End of May means....

ROUNDUP TIME!



Can you believe it is here already? Now before you go rushing off into June, take a few minutes and do a roundup of May. You can make it short and sweet - or go full out on details. If you have a blog and want to share your roundup with family, friends, or the whole world - go ahead!

I would really appreciate it if you linked to my blog and let others know where you got the idea.


And, I've been waiting all month to unveil the new "me" - a Katie the Scrapbook Lady Roundup Chick! I think I look good in boots, what do y'all think?



Just like my other little chickies, I ordered this one from Bless this Chick.
Ok, here's the deal. I created this roundup feature to keep myself in line and a little more organized. This way I don't wait forever to upload pictures, print out layouts and focus on keeping things in order. It is also a great way for me to get some important details down on paper (or blog) to use for future layouts.

These are the questions and tasks I try and complete each month:


What books and/or magazines did I read this month?

What movies and/or tv shows did I watch this month?

What special days did I celebrate and how?

What illnesses or health concerns did I have in May?

What fun things did I do with my friends and/or family?

What new foods, recipes or restaurants did I try in May?

What special or unusual purchases did I make?

What were this month’s disappointments?

What were my accomplishments this month?

Any thing else noteworthy to record about May?



Then I am going to be sure that at the end of each month I have done the following tasks:

Pictures & layouts:

Backed up all digital pictures to a cd

Back up all digital layouts to a cd

Print out any digital layouts created during the month and put them in albums.
Uploaded all digital pictures to 2 different sites. ( I use Sony Image Station & Costco photo center)

Send email links to online photo albums to your family or friends who might enjoy them or send a picture cd, or picture attachments. Share your memories!

Get your pictures printed out and put into simple photo sleeve albums.

If you use film, be sure you get all your pictures developed and file your negatives in a safe place. If possible, I would suggest you get a picture cd along with your developing.

Put finished paper scrapbook layouts in sheet protectors and albums to enjoy.

For bloggers - print out my blog entries to keep in a binder. My blog(s) really are like a journal and I was thinking that it would be nice to have hard copy to keep. I know some people back up their blog files which is probably a good idea.

Scrapbooking Supplies:

For digital scrappers:
download, unzip, and file all kits & fonts purchased. Save a preview image of each kit and keep it in a separate file for easy browsing. Back up all new purchases to cd or dvd in case of computer crash or to maximize your hard drive space.

For paper scrappers:
put away any new purchases. Do you still have stuff in sacks sitting around? I know some of you do! Put it away in an organized system.

For all scrappers:

Look through what you have purchased recently and decide what you want to use. At the first of the month set some goals for scrapping (hint – use this same list of ideas as a goal sheet for April)

Sort through old supplies that no longer appeal to you. Donate them to a friend who can use them or a charity. My older supplies go to my daughter who happily uses them to create many fun projects. I have also donated some to charity.

Look through what supplies you did use during the month and think about what it is about them that appealed to you. This will help you make smarter purchases in the future.

Clean up your area! Whether that is getting your computer in tip top shape, or clearing off the piles on a table where you can sit and work.

So consider this a little nudge with the old spurs from Katie the Scrapbook Lady. Don’t let this sit unfinished for too long, take a few minutes and write out your answers while the month is still fresh in your mind. You will be so glad that you did!

If you want to get really ambitious, have other family members fill this out (or help them with it) for an even richer memory resource.


Remember that I will post my own personal roundup notes here on my blog tomorrow.


Now Giddy Up and Happy Scrapping!



Katie the Scrapbook Lady

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June issue and quotes are done!

2 day sale of 50% off the ridiculously low price of $5.00
ONLY $2.50 through June 1st!!!





2 day sale of 50% the everyday (and incredibly low) price of $3.50
ONLY $1.75 through June 1st!!!


You can buy both of these in my web shop


OR

for all of those who have been asking if I could take credit cards and not just pay pal - I have some big news coming! I'm in the process of setting up a new shop with a wonderful digital scrapbooking website that will offer you more purchasing options. It could still take a few days to get everything set up there so rest assured that I will also hold the same usual 2 day sale there.

I will send out my newsletter when all systems are a "GO" at the new location so be sure you are signed up to receive messages from me at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/katiescrapbooklady/


AND...I'm offering a special challenge for this month only! You will have to read the first page of the June issue to find out more - but I will give you a hint: there is an easy way to earn a free issue!

I will be featuring a lot of fun pages here in the next week that show you how other scrapbookers have used the ideas in past issues.


Happy Shopping!



Katie the Scrapbook Lady
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Happy Memorial Day!

This will be a short post today. I just wanted to be sure that you saw the added links to Saturday's entry - there are lots of amazing freebies and sales out there today!

But save a few dollars for tomorrow... the June issue of An Amazing Month of Memories is coming and I will have some surprises for you!


Have a wonderful day!



Katie the Scrapbook Lady

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Weekend Wamblings - edited to add (ETA) another freebie

Gina Miller has a great Memorial Day freebie on her blog - perfect for military pictures! Thanks Gina!


Found another awesome freebie that I thought you would all want to know about. It's on Meredith Fenwick's blog and it is gorgeous. She also has a sale going on this weekend at SBB.



I originally titled this post "Weekend Ramblings" but then I thought of Elmer Fudd for some reason so I thought it should be "Wamblings" instead. Too silly!

Just some odds and ends today.

Thanks for all the nice comments yesterday on Alex's favorite layout. I read all of them out loud to him and he felt pretty special so thank you if you left a post on this blog or on one of the gallery websites.



A reader asked for advice on the best way to tie ribbon. This is actually something I am not very good at - I have never been able to tie pretty bows! Because this is a weakness of mine, I actually bookmarked a page on Martha Stewart's site with advice on this very subject. Go to Martha's website to see what the expert has to say.


Michelle Coleman is giving away "Good Karma" on her blog.


Lucky Bug Scrapbooking has a new look. Check out the state by state listing of stores!


Jen Caputo (one of my creative team members) has been sharing some awesome sketches on her blog (free download) - love this one!


There are some good sales this weekend on digi stuff so if you need a little enabling here are some links:

Ali Folendore's mini kits on sale for $1

Kristin Cronin-Barrow's designs at The Digi Chick are 30% off. I really love her new Petal Pack!

Andrea Burns at The Digi Chick is having a 40% off sale.

Holly McCaig has a coupon on her blog for 15% off.


And it's been awhile since I've done some of these...

You Belong in 1974

If you scored... 1950 - 1959: You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in! 1960 - 1969: You are a free spirit with a huge heart. Love, peace, and happiness rule - oh, and drugs too. 1970 - 1979: Bold and brash, you take life by the horns. Whether you're partying or protesting, you give it your all! 1980 - 1989: Wild, over the top, and just a little bit cheesy. You're colorful at night - and successful during the day. 1990 - 1999: With you anything goes! You're grunge one day, ghetto fabulous the next. It's all good!

What Year Do You Belong In?

You Are a Smiley Face Cookie

You're happy go lucky. So happy, in fact, it's a little past the point of normal sanity. You usually make those around you smile ... when you're not creeping them out!

What Kind of Cookie Are You?

You Are Cream Pie

You're the perfect combo of simplicity and divinity Those who like you life for understated pleasures

What Kind of Pie Are You?

Ok, I think I have got all the important stuff covered now!



I'll be back on Monday - taking tomorrow off.

Katie the Scrapbook Lady

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Alex's favorite layout

The new theme on Photo Friday this week is "Home" which is just perfect for the pictures I have been wanting to scrap lately. I am having fun documenting my children's rooms through photos and I know these are memories they will cherish.

Been working on my son's room this week because I have had maps on the mind. I love his room because it is like a living scrapbook. Full of memorabilia and collections.



Today we had a lot of fun taking inventory in my son's room! Check it out:



Posted at 2Peas and Scrapbook Bytes

Not sure if I should be publicly admitting the amount of OCD that is prevalent in our house! LOL! My son's large collections represent years of obsessions, gifts, and mostly rewards for all the point systems that have motivated him throughout the years. He loves all of this stuff and he and I had SOOOO much fun counting all of these things this morning. He is ready to do the rest of the house now! LOL!

Font is shorthand.

Thanks for looking - Alex is so excited about this layout because he helped me a lot with it. If you get a minute to leave a comment about it I know he would think that was really neat!



Hope you all have a happy weekend!

Katie the Scrapbook Lady

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Links & recipes!

Want to see some really amazing photography? I just love photos of children anyway and this site has some really beautiful portraits! Check it out at http://www.ann-mariehensley.com/


Another one of my blog buddies has a great freebie up to share. This one is from Maggie and the colors are some of my favorites. Thanks Maggie!



I had some requests for my recipe for chicken burritos so I thought I would share it here. It is not really a recipe as much as an ingredient list, but that is often how I cook. I have some VERY picky children so I need to make food that everyone can customize to their own liking. My daughter is a vegetarian. She's only 9, but she made the decision years ago because of her love for animals. I can't convince her to change and I respect her choice. However, she really is more of a "selectetarian" as we call her because she doesn't like much!

My son has textural issues (usually a part of autism) and won't eat anything creamy or mixed together. He is a lot easier to cook for than my daughter is though which I never thought would be the case. He doesn't eat a wide variety of food and he can't stand mexican food, casseroles, or other "suspicious" foods LOL! He LOVES pasta and could eat it at every meal. He never has sauce, just butter and parmesan cheese. Every time! He also is crazy about steak, bacon, and sausage so you can imagine how that goes over with the Veggie Chick! Could they be more different? Thankfully, he loves fruit and a lot of veggies so that helps.

Most nights I try to find a happy medium, but sometimes we have a meal that I know one of them will hate and they have to have something else like leftovers. Some people have the rule that you eat what is put in front of you or else, but I really can't see that working around here. My son would probably actually throw up if I forced him to drink milk and it would scar him (and us) for life! How do I know? We had an occupational therapist who made us push the point enough that I can vouch for it. It is important to try and get kids with textural issues to get past them so they can have a well-balanced life, but there comes a point where you also have to live in peace and some battles are not worth fighting every day for years on end.


Bet you didn't know you would get all of this by asking me to share a recipe? I guess I'm a little chatty today or something.

So here's the rundown on the Chicken Burritos:

Diced or shredded cooked chicken breast. If I feel ambitious I grill it, or even slow cook it and shred it just before serving. Yesterday I decided to take the easy route and I used Louis Rich grilled chicken strips. They are good, but kind of expensive unless you buy a big pack at Costco (which I do.)

Flour tortillas

shredded cheese (we like cheddar and/or Monterey Jack)

Diced tomatoes

shredded lettuce

Fresh Pico de Gallo (I love this stuff! and I always buy a container of it in the produce section)

Rosarita Vegetarian Refried Beans

S& W San Antonio Style beans (yummy)

Guacomole

Sour Cream

Spanish Rice (I usually just use the Lipton instant packets)

Salsa

Everyone can lay out their own tortilla and fill with the meat, cheese, rice & beans of their choice. Then the plate goes in the microwave for about 90 seconds till it is all heated and bubbly. They get to add the other ingredients and roll into burritos. This is always a filling meal and there is very little cooking involved so it is nice on a hot day.

My favorite way to serve these burritos is to use pork instead. This is what I do for company (or I'll offer both options) and I served this to my in-laws on our vacation last week.

Put boneless country style pork spareribs in the crockpot in the morning with about 1 cup of water. Cook all day on low heat. Drain off excess liquid and shred pork using 2 forks just before serving. I don't use any spices but I'm sure you could jazz it up a bit if you wanted. This always gets rave reviews and the pork is so tender this way!



So there you have it...one of the famous "build your own dinners" that we live off of. I will try to share more on the blog so you can hopefully get some recipe ideas. I know my worst task of the day is deciding what to have for dinner so maybe it will help inspire me if I share some details with all of you.

What's on tonight's menu? I have been in the mood for barbequed hamburgers ever since I wrote about BBQ month in the May issue of An Amazing Month of Memories. We love them with Famous Dave's BBQ sauce (yum!) and I bought a bag of the kids favorite potato chips (Lay's Dill Pickle- uugh!) and some corn on the cob also.



Speaking of the month of memories.... June's issue will be ready on Tuesday the 30th. I usually try and have it published on the 25th which is today, but I fell behind this month because of my vacation and I thought it might be nice to get Memorial Day weekend out of the way first.

I'm sure you know by now that you want to be here the day it is published!

Good stuff in June's issue - I'm having a ton of fun putting it together!

Katie the Scrapbook Lady

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A great day!

I was lucky enough today to spend a big chunk of time just having some "me" time. It's been awhile since I've done that and I must say it felt great!



I went to Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware which are 2 places that I always find a lot of inspiration. I didn't actually buy anything, just looked, but that was fun to do. I also went to Michaels and used the 40% off coupon to buy another one of my favorite albums. I haven't yet filled an entire album so I don't know exactly how many pages will fit, but I can tell you already that it is a TON! I originally was going to use all these cute little theme albums, but I have recently changed my mind that I will do this more like a family library of albums and keep them in our family office. I will take pictures and share more details someday soon. The idea is loosely based on Stacey Julian's system with my own twist.

So that was some fun shopping just for my own pleasure. No groceries. No errands. No to do list in the purse. Gotta do that more often.

I treated myself to a nice lunch. Some people can't bear to eat alone, but I'm not one of them. I just bring a book or a magazine in the restaurant with me and I enjoy the solitude and the pleasure of having someone else prepare the food and wait on me.



I guess I'm pretty simple, but to me that is a great morning!


I have another freebie link to share with you today - it has been a good week for freebies!

My digi pal Ashley Olson has a cute paper pack on her blog to download. She is going through a pretty rough time right now yet she still found the time and energy to do something generous for all of us. How amazing is that? The papers will go with one of her upcoming kits so you will want to be on the lookout for when that is released (don't worry, I'll let you know!)


That's it for now. Need to get working on dinner. We are having build your own grilled chicken burritos and chip and guacamole.



Have a happy night.

Katie the Scrapbook Lady

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Late night blogger and more maps

Do you ever have one of those days where you think I can totally get everything done today and then find out you can't? Ok, so I have them almost every day...but I really wasn't expecting today to be one of them! LOL! Thus, the late night blog entry. But the day just doesn't feel right if I don't blog so here I am at 11:30 p.m.!



A couple of cool things to share:

Amazing freebies from Bad Candy - love that name! These are from a digi designer in Germany so part of her site is in German, but the digi downloads are easy enough to figure out and thankfully in English.

I found this blog and I love the tutorials she does called Photoshop Fridays! Here is a great one about making eyes "pop" - I'm going to have to try this sometime, it looks really cool!

And another cool thing... it is nice to be missed!


Maps, maps, and more maps!



My son has a full wall of maps in his room. I did a layout about his room today.



Posted at 2Peas

I need to still do a page 2 of this layout but for now I thought I would share the rest of the map wall.



We have maps from all over on the wall. I used 3m brand Poster tape so they are removable. It was like putting together a giant puzzle to layer them all just right. My son's favorite map is the video game map of Spiderman's Manhattan.

Have a happy Wednesday!

Katie the Scrapbook Lady

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Sunday Scraps and Monday Maps!

Shabby Princess has a new freebie up at http://www.shabbyprincess.com/DinnerParty.asp

I had a wonderful scrappin Sunday afternoon yesterday!





Ashley Olson Delicious Breeze Papers
Monotype Corsiva Font

Posted at 2Peas, SBB, & The Digi Chick



Ashley Olson Faithfulness Kit
2Peas Well Behaved Font
Idea from May issue of An Amazing Month of Memories - Better Sleep Month

Posted at 2Peas, The Digi Chick, & SBB




Ashley Olson Glam Chic Kit - I LOVE this kit and it is on sale right now for 50% off!

Posted at 2Peas, SBB & The Digi Chick


Now on to the Monday Maps portion of the post....



Maybe it is a little goofy, but when I titled this entry I still didn't have my blog theme for the week settled on. After I typed in "sunday scraps" it came to me. Yes, mostly because of the rhyme - LOL! But that is ok, because once I thought of it, I knew it would be cool. See, I love maps! I never realized this until lately, but as I look around my house I can see a lot of maps - and I wish I had more. I also wish I would have understood how cool maps were when I was younger.

So for the next few days let's explore maps (scrapbook style of course!)

Today we will start with scrapbooking maps, aka blueprints, sketches, etc. This is like having a plan for your page and you just plug in the papers and pictures. Really takes the mental strain out of scrapbooking and it is so fun to see how individually unique they can turn out.

Here are some of my favorite resources:

Scrap Maps

Becky Higgins

Simple Schemes

Pages of the Heart

Memory Creators


I'm going to put them in a separate entry as well (see below) so you can find them anytime on my sidebar by clicking on this image.



So do a layout today using one of these resources and enjoy the ease of following a map!

Happy Mapping Scrapping!



Katie the Scrapbook Lady

Scrapbook Maps

Scrapbooking maps, aka blueprints, sketches, etc. are a fun and easy way to jumpstart your scrapbooking creativity. This is like having a plan for your page and you just plug in the papers and pictures. Really takes the mental strain out of scrapbooking and it is so fun to see how individually unique they can turn out.

Here are some of my favorite resources:

Scrap Maps

Becky Higgins

Simple Schemes

Pages of the Heart

Memory Creators


You can find this entry anytime by clicking on this image on my blog sidebar menu.



So do a layout today using one of these resources and enjoy the ease of following a map!

Happy Mapping Scrapping!



Katie the Scrapbook Lady

Random Scrapbook Lady Stuff

How's that for a clever blog entry title? That really is what this post will be though. Remember my 374 emails from the other day. My inbox is now down to 53 messages and they are all things that I need to take action on in some way. Some of them are simply items I want to keep track of or share here so it seems like Saturday is a good day for that. I will be cleaning my house and yard today, so why not my inbox also?!

Random item #1 -



We went to see "Over the Hedge" last night and it was hilarious! I totally recommend it and I'm always so happy when a movie comes out that both kids and adults can enjoy.


Random item #2-

I found these cute elements at Designer Digitals today and decided I "needed" to add them to my collection. Love the tape collection! Also picked up these cute frames and some fun metal accents.


Random item #3 -

I picked up a copy of Digital Scrapbooking 5 a week ago and took it with me on vacation. It was fun to see alot of my digi friends in print and I'm always thrilled to have a new magazine, especially one for digital scrapbooking. Now don't get mad here but I'm going to give an honest review. I actually liked the last 2 issues better. Now, this is NOT because they didn't accept any of my entries, although I wish they would have! LOL! No sour grapes here.



I thought that many of the pages seemed fuzzy and dark and the overall layout was not as pleasing. Too critical? Well, it is a digital scrapbooking magazine so I would expect they would really focus on quality issues like that. I also thought the articles were not as good as previous issues. Perhaps I've grown enough as a digital scrapper that I expect more? Who knows? If anyone else is noticing the same stuff I am on this I would love to know. I'm not trying to be mean - so don't send me nasty comments over this - LOL! I know a lot of hard work went into this issue, and there are many wonderful layouts and ideas. Just some observations and opinions.

I love the free digital downloads - especially the one by Tia Bennet!

In my opinion, Simple Scrapbooks should make this a regular publication complete with subscribing options. I can see that they could easily publish 4-6 issues a year. If you look at all the amazing talent online, you will know that there would be plenty of great pages and articles available! Hmmm... maybe I will send them an email today.



You can email them also by using this link.


Random item #4 -

Still on the subject of Simple Scrapbooks - I am very excited about this upcoming book! Don't you think this book is a result of all the blog quizzes and tags that go around? What a great idea!




I really do believe that blogging is changing the world. Seem like a bold statement? I don't think so. We can be in touch with people around the world and share ideas like never before in the history of man. It is also just a really cool way to use your creativity and keep track of life in general.


Random item #5 -

I did another layout last night. Just a simple one, but sometimes those are the most fun to do!



Kristin Cronin-Barrow's Sunny Sunrise Kit at the Digi Chick.
Brush Script MT font

Posted at 2Peas, The Digi Chick,a> and Scrapbook Bytes.


Pretty random stuff today. Hope you all have a happy Saturday!




Katie the Scrapbook Lady

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scrappin again

It seems like it has been such a long time since I have scrapped! I've really missed my creative time lately so I decided that even with a long "to-do" list today that I needed to make some time for me.



I put together these 2 layouts of me when I was about 4 months old. The photos are from 1969 and my Mom kindly scanned them for me. Did a little digital cleanup on them but they do still look older - but I guess they are older so there!



papers are from Kristin Cronin-Barrow's Color Pop Kit at The Digi Chick and the flower is from her Shabby Touch kit at Scrapbook Elements. I posted this layout at
2 Peas, Digi Chick, and SBE.



I used Kristin Cronin-Barrow's Shabby Touch kit from Scrapbook Elements. I posted this layout at
2 Peas, Digi Chick, and SBE.

It was kind of fun to do some pages about me as a baby. Not something I usually do.


I'm also proud of these layouts because they are my first pages created on my brand new laptop. Loving it so far, but like everything, there is a learning curve involved. I've never even used a laptop so it is a bit of an ajustment to use the touch mouse and the keyboard (I'm used to a natural keyboard so that is a big adjustment for me.




I was having a hard time working without a mouse so I decided to hook up my Wacom tablet because it also has a wireless mouse. Then I figured if I am going to go to all that effort, I might as well finally get used to using the pen with the tablet. I really have never gotten the hang of it even though it was a Christmas gift from last year. I'm excited that I am learning new things and I can tell I am going to enjoy this new computer. My kids are very happy also because there wasn't a lot of pressure for them to get off the computer today so I could have a turn.



I still have a lot to set up on the laptop so I think I will have plenty to keep me entertained over the next few days. Hopefully I will find some good Wacom tablet tricks to share here on the blog. If you hare a Wacom fan and have some helpful hints for me - Please leave me a comment or email me at kt@scrapbooklady.org

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Katie the Scrapbook Lady

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The return of the Scrapbook Lady!

I'm back from my vacation and I'm in the process of sorting through and answering 374 emails that have filled my in-box in the last 6 days!

I'm happy to be home and I have to admit that I really missed my computer! LOL! The good news is that my new laptop computer is arriving today so on future trips I should be able to bring it along. On this trip it wouldn't have helped me a lot anyway because we had no internet access. We stayed in a house at Bear Lake in Garden City, Utah and there just wasn't that sort of technology where we stayed. I do wish I could have digi scrapped a little because I really missed it, but perhaps it was good to take some time off anyway.



I feel rested and rejuvenated, which is nice. I had several naps and went to bed early almost every night of the trip. I shared a room with my hubby and 2 kids and we all slept in bunk beds. It sort of felt like we were at camp and it was fun to lay in bed and giggle with my kids each night. We even put Whoopie Cushions under each other's pillows. (yep - that is my kind of fun!)



I read a Mary Higgins Clark Book called "No Place Like Home" which I thought was one of her better books. I like reading her books because they are easy and entertaining, but often they are too predictable. I thought this one was not as predictable and I was even surprised at the ending.

After breezing through that fun read I decided to do some educational reading. I spent a few days looking through the book "Homeschool Your Child for Free" but I will need to go through it again now that I have my internet back and check out all the great sites mentioned. I have to say that it is the best homeschooling resource book I have ever read.



We watched a couple of movies also: Nanny McPhee (cute story), Elizabethtown (cute actor - Orlando Bloom), Fantastic Four (I found it boring and hokey), The Family Stone (I only caught the last half but it was an interesting story), and Hoodwinked (a kids show that I actually found very entertaining and clever!)



We went swimming each day in a nearby indoor pool and took a few walks around the area. The weather was perfect - not too hot or too cold.



I cooked dinner 3 of the nights and also prepared lunch one day for the entire family. (My husband's side) I made haystacks, build your own burritos, taco salad, and a pasta bar. I will try and share some of the recipes here soon because they are all good casual entertaining kind of meals since everyone can customize it the way they like it - a big help for picky eaters!

So this is probably the most NSBR (non scrap book related) post I have written in a long time since I haven't been scrapbooking at all. I didn't even take a lot of pictures except for the day that we celebrated my 3 year old nephew's birthday. We had a lot of fun doing that and he had a blast!



It is always hard to come home and get back in the routine. I'm almost done with the mountain of laundry (Mt. Never-Rest as I call it) and we are in desperate need of a trip to the grocery store. We have a busy few weeks ahead of us so I need to get in gear pretty quick so we can all function. I started on the June issue of An Amazing Month of Memories and I'm feeling very excited about the themes and holidays - lots of ideas brewing!

While I was away, the next round was decided for the Ultimate Digi Scrapper Contest and I did not make the cut. I guess there were a lot of hurt feelings over the cuts. I honestly do not feel bad about it because I am very happy with how my entries turned out. I never expected to win, I just wanted to try my best and see how far I got. I feel like I did my best so I can't ask for anything more than that. It will be fun to see who gets through the next round, it is some tough competition! If you want to see my entries you can see them here - WEEK 1 Layout and WEEK 2 Layout.



Well, I am hoping that my next blog post will be made using my new laptop computer! I'm pretty excited to finally have one and it will be nice for my kids also since we won't always be trying to all use the same computer.

Until then....

Katie the Scrapbook Lady

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Gone fishing - be back on May 18th

I'm going to be on vacation May 12 - 17. I will return to blogging, scrapbooking, and other related Scrapbook Lady activities on May 18th.


I will not have access to a computer or the internet during this time, so please don't worry if I don't answer emails or process orders. I will get caught up on the 18th.


Have a happy week!

Katie the Scrapbook Lady

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Week 2 challenge done and fun blogging

I finally worked on my week 2 layout for the Ultimate Digi Scrapper Contest! I can't post it anywhere but the contest gallery, but I can share the link with you so you can go and check it out if you like.

See my layout here

In other news...

Trish Jones is retiring more than 50 of her items (papers, kits, element packs etc.) - you will want to check out the hot deals!




I've been blogging about blogging this week - LOL! and I thought I would point you toward some fun stuff for your blog!

First of all, as you find cool things on other blogs that you want to share, be sure to give credit to the source where you found it. Sometimes these little clips are posted all over the place so you may not be able to credit one source. In this case, I found this cute little clip on Amy Edwards' Blog. This guy is really pretty good!

Watch the video by clicking here



Looking for ideas to give your blog a personal touch?

Try using prompts and tags to give you ideas for posts.

Keely has a wonderful blog with a weekly top ten list to inspire you.


Of course I love adding smileys to my entries. You can visit smiley central to find these cute little guys!



Blog things Quizzes

Here's one I did this morning:

Your #1 Match: ISFJ

The Nurturer You have a strong need to belong, and you very loyal. A good listener, you excel at helping others in practical ways. In your spare time, you enjoy engaging your senses through art, cooking, and music. You find it easy to be devoted to one person, who you do special things for. You would make a good interior designer, chef, or child psychologist.

What's Your Personality Type?

Love this idea for a photo tag blog entry. If I didn't have 5000 things to do before leaving town tomorrow - I would do this one! I will try and do it later on in the month.


And speaking of all that I have to do today...

To do lists are a popular blog entry subject. Gina Miller always makes hers look all fancy using her cute digi kits. Maybe I will try that sometime, but for today I just need to get going!

The big "to dos" today are:

Laundry - oodles!



Packing for me and kids - Hubby is on his own for this!



Clean the house because I hate the thought of coming home to a dirty house.



Grocery Shop for my meal responsibilities for trip (We are staying in a house with my in laws)



Finish moving stuff around in the basement because when we return from our trip our construction guru will be starting on our project. We are doing 2 rooms to start with. I wish we could do the whole thing at once, but alas, no magical money bag here! We are working on offices first because Hubby really needs one - our master bedroom looks like an office cubicle right now.



Take extra stuff from basement to charity drop off for Deseret Industries.



Buy a few more shirts - I have nothing to wear!



Pick up refills at pharmacy.



Finish up Mother's Day stuff!


Try and squeeze in some layouts for the Amazing Month of Memories challenge and for some of my design teams.



Maybe I should take one these... it's a "chill pill" smiley graphic! LOL!



That's the general list. Of course there are a million other sub-lists also - LOL! But if I can get through those, I will be ok.


Hope you all get through your lists ok also today!

Katie the Scrapbook Lady

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Week #7 is up and more on blogging

Because of all the National Scrapbook Day activities at Scrapbook Bytes, this week's Amazing Month of Memories challenge was posted a little late. However, Amy has graciously given us all until next Wednesday to complete the 5 challenges based on my ebook series. I'm really excited about these so I need to hurry up and get scrapping since I'm leaving town on Friday!







If you still need to order your May copy of an Amazing Month of Memories, be sure to do it soon, because I'm not going to be able to process orders from Friday morning (May 12) until next Wednesday (May 17). I'm going to be without a computer and without internet for 6 days (GASP!) while I am on vacation with my inlaws. I might go through serious withdrawals!!! I will post a reminder on my blog while I'm gone, but I'm afraid that you will have to go without the daily scraps from the "Scrapbook Lady" for a few days this month - sorry!

So here's the link if you want to order May's issue before I go:









Link to Katie's Shop


I do plan to post tomorrow and Friday so I will be able to finish up my theme of blogging.



Today, I wanted to point out some great resources to look over if you have a blog, or if you are considering getting into the blog world. I believe that scrapbookers in general have been quicker to embrace blogs because of their love of journaling and sharing memories. Still, there are many people who look at you like you are speaking a foreign language when you start talking about blogs.

There is no way I can be a complete resource on blogging - I just know what I have figured out by trial and error. I actually had another blog before this one. If you want to see my old blog you can check it out at http://www.myscrapblog.com/scrapbooklady
-there will be a lot of out of date links, but you can see where I started.

I didn't know where to look for information on blogging at first, and in the last 8 months there have been a lot of developments in blogging and a lot more information. Funny how fast it changes!

Here's some good stuff to check out:

Always check the help feature on your blogging system - lots of FAQs and other goo info there.

Michelle of Scrap Rants fame has recently been working on a series about blogging. Really comprehensive and useful information!

Wikipedia Blog info




I've shared some of my tips for blogs before, but it is worth repeating some of them.

#1 - Make sure your blog is readable! Do not use bright, dark, or busy backgrounds - it is just too hard on the eyes. Even if you use white text against a plain back backround, it is more difficult to read than the traditional black text on a white background.

#2 - Enable comments to make your blog interactive. But turn on word verification (under settings) or you will be suprised by spamming comments that offer your readers info on enlarging things that most of them don't even have! LOL!

#3 - Post regularly. If you are sharing your blog with more than just your family, make it interesting by keeping it current. Even a private blog should be added to on a regular basis...after all, why did you start blogging in the first place?

Tomorrow I will post about how to add your own style to your blog. After all, you are a creative person, why shouldn't your blog reflect that?


Well, I'm off to scrap. I took both of my kids to the zoo today and we had a lot of fun. (Monday's trip got cancelled) so I could use some quiet time now.




Katie the Scrapbook Lady

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Blogging about Blogging!

My mom has jumped into the world of blogging (so proud of her!) She has started a private family blog to share things within our small, but geographically challenged family. That gave me the idea for this week's blog theme: BLOGS!

Blogging isn't for everyone, especially a public blog like this one. But I do think that keeping a journal is very important and a blog is a great way to do this. It also makes it very easy to add pictures, links, and other fun things to share with your readers, however many there are.

First of all, what is a blog? Blog is short for "web log" which is an online journal that is updated frequently.

Here are some interesting statistics about blogs:

Rate at which the number of blogs have doubled in size over the last three years, according to Technorati: every 6 months

Number of new Weblogs created every day: 75,000

Percentage of bloggers who still maintain their blogs with new posts after three months of blogging: 55

Source: Technorati.




I use blogger which is a free tool from Google. Many scrapbookers seem to favor typepad because you can have mulitple pages to your blog and a few other features. I didn't want to pay for my blog as I already plunk down a significant amount of change each month for my website. Plus, I think I've figured out enough about blogger to make it just as functional as a typepad blog. There are other services out there, so you can do a web search for "free blogs" if you are interested. I did try a few others before settling on blogger and I did not like them nearly as much.

The first things you should consider are:

Who do you want to read your blog? Will it be public or private?

What is the purpose of your blog? Why do you want one?

What do you want to post about? Do you have a theme? Or will it be more about your daily life as it unfolds? Or both?

How often would you like to post entries?

Are you aware of privacy and safety issues? (see below.)


Privacy issues:

Even if your blog is not publicized, technically anyone can find it and read it so take certain precautions (these also apply to posting layouts online) to protect yourself and others.

NEVER post your address, phone number, or highly personal information like the exact locations that you hang out at or work at or where your kids go to school or hang out!

Don't post pictures of questionable content or use offensive or explicit language. This isn't just a matter of not offending your readers, but of who you will attract. Think about who does a websearch for those kind of topics...do you really want them reading your blog and seeing pictures of your kids? Speaking of kids, please be careful about including pictures of them in the tub or scantily dressed. While these may be innocent pictures, there are some very yucky people in the world who will find other uses for them.

If you post a picture of someone else - be sure you have their permission, especially on a public blog. Remember my blog shy brother? I had to respect his wishes for privacy so I covered his face in the layout I posted.

I am not sure if some blogs can be password protected? If you don't want your blog to be easily found then make sure you do not publish a RSS feed. I personally love blogs with RSS feeds (mine has one) because then they can be added to my bloglines reader, but if you don't want non-invited readers do not publish one. In blogger you can turn the RSS feed on or off under setings.


That is probably enough blog stuff to think about for today! I will post more tomorrow.



One of my favorite things about having a blog is being able to share pictures and layouts with my readers. So I am going to share my latest layouts with you before signing off.




Posted at 2Peas, Sweet Shoppe and Digi Chick



Posted at 2Peas, Sweet Shoppe and Digi Chick



Posted at 2Peas, Sweet Shoppe and Digi Chick





Hope you have a happy day!

Katie the Scrapbook Lady

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BIG weekend! Good Scrapping Stuff :)

I didn't do one layout this weekend - but I still consider the weekend a scrapping success!

I was excited to open my email on National Scrapbook Day and look for sales, but even more thrilled when I found a message from Kristin Cronin-Barrow inviting me to be on her Creative Team! Kristin is a talented designer who sells her kits at The Digi Chick and at Scrapbook Elements.



Then I made the rounds online and I picked up a free kit at Scrapartist, Rhonna's exclusive 2Peas kit, Lynn Grieveson's Backyard Explorer, Gina Miller's Garden Treasures 2, and some Michelle Underwood kits.

Thank you for the great response to my sale! It was the only opportunity to stock up on past releases at half price so I'm so glad so many of you took advantage of the opportunity! There were 2 orders that when I sent the links and/or attachments, they bounced ...so if you didn't get your order, please email me at kt@scrapbooklady.org

I was also so happy that I made it to round 2 of the Ultimate Digi Scrapper Challenge
contest! Now it is on to the Week 2 challenge which is to scrap ourselves! Tough one, but it will be fun to participate.



I've got a busy week ahead:

Monday - going to the zoo with my daughter, sister-in-law, nephew and 2 nieces. Also going to a dance recital for a friend of my daughter's (old neighborhood.) Getting new trees planted in yard.

Tuesday - tending my nephew while his mom takes the girls (5 month old twins) to the doctor. Hopefully the fence in my yard will be finished being installed on this day.

Wednesday - volunteer at school day

Thursday - pack and get everything together day

Friday - leave for vacation for 6 days. It looks like I will be without internet for 6 days - Not sure I can make it that long! LOL! I did finally get a laptop ordered though and it should be here before I leave so I can at least do some scrapping.


Oh, and I'm itching to do some layouts so hopefully there will be a lot of scrapbooking this week!



Have a happy Monday!

Katie the Scrapbook Lady

* Updated again - National Scrapbook Day Saturday May 6th

*more links added - I will post any more that I find through the day also

Saturday May 6th is National Scrapbooking Day!

EVERYTHING in my store is 50% off - this weekend only.



Be sure to check out the events at your local scrapbook store for this fun holiday and here are some great online events:

Shabby Princess will be having a sale and several online events.

Scrapbook Bytes has an entire day of events planned.

2Peas also has a ton of good stuff for scrappers planned and I can't wait to get my hands on Rhonna Farrer's exclusive NSD kit!

The Digi Chick and A Cherry on Top are some of the other sites that will be having special events and sales for National Scrapbooking Day.

Scrap Artist will have a free kit - no strings attached!

Jasbeanie will have a 40% off sale on May 6th only!

Designer Digitals will be having a sale and some chats (with freebies)

Trish Jones has a sale on her awesome snapshots line at her new site.

Scrapbook Elements also has a lot of sales going on today.

* Simple Scrapbooks has some free downloads for National Scrapbook Day, including a digital kit.

* Creating Keepsakes also has some free Downloads.

* Sweet Shoppe Designs is giving away a great kit for purchases above $10


Feel free to let me know if you find any great sales and I will add them to this entry.

Have a wonderful weekend and do lots of scrapping!




Katie the Scrapbook Lady

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Sketch Layouts - and blog shy brother

Just thought I would share a couple of layouts here:





Posted at Two Peas, Scrapbook Bytes, and Sweet Shoppe.

I used Mindy Terasawa's Touch of Spring Kit. Fonts are Angelina and Artistamp Medium. Gina Miller's sketch #11 for her Scrapbook Bytes sketch challenge.


I was going to post this layout for the sketch challenge but it seems that my youngest brother has "issues" with being seen on the internet! So I decided I will now have to give him a new identity if I post a picture of him online. Here he is....



Posted on 2Peas and Scrapbook Bytes - yep, I posted it this way!



I think it is a good look for him, don't you?

It's sort of like having a family photo of Flat Stanley! LOL!

And speaking of Flat Stanley....

I did this layout to help a fellow digi scrapper's daughter with a school assignment. I thought this was such a neat idea!

You can read the thread she posted with the Flat Stanley info. Here's the layout I did:



posted on 2Peas

If you don't know about Flat Stanley you can read about him here.

Have a Happy Cinco de Mayo!



Katie the Scrapbook Lady

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Organization - weeding!

Just a few notes to start off with:

I finished my entry for the ultimate digi scrapper contest. We can't post the layout anywhere but the gallery for the contest, but we can post a link to the layout if anyone wants to go look and/or leave feedback. I think you need to be a registered user to leave feedback, but I believe that anyone can view the layout? Here's the link to my layout.


Also had some great comments on my blog entry yesterday that I wanted to share.

Amy K said "Thank you for the Picasa web page idea! I have all my previews saved in separate folders for which CD they are in, but never knew about this wonderful option for viewing. Awesome!

And just a little FYI - having more than 500 fonts installed in your computer at once can significantly slow down your processes. I keep a folder where I look at my fonts, and only install the ones I know I will be using. Thanks for the great tools!"

Amy, I'm so glad you mentioned that about the fonts! For some reason this never dawned on me and I really should weed out a lot of the fonts I never use. Thanks so much!!!


Kristin said " For what its worth, I think its cheaper to print out photos at places like costco rather than at home anyways. I don't think printers are economical in terms of cost, they are convenient yes but I don't think you'd save money in the end, after buying the printer etc. I gave up buying ink for my printer and i'm just going to send to an online photo service from now on (both for layouts and for photos)."

Kristin - I totally agree! I thought about printers all day and went and looked at several. I started thinking about cartridge cost and photo paper cost and I really think it ends up being just as expensive or more than professional printing. Plus I really like the way they turn out from Costco. There is something about home printing that just isn't quite there for me. I had officially changed my mind and then came home to read your comment and that helped confirm that it was the right decision. Thanks so much!




So today's organization topic is WEEDING! I'm not talking yardwork stuff here, although I have enough weeding to do to keep me busy for a week. What I'm talking about here is weeding through the extra stuff that is bogging you down. When Amy brought up the font issue above, I knew it fit perfectly with what I wanted to post about today. I've been thinking about this alot lately.

Whether you are a paper scrapper or a digital scrapper, there seems to be a natural process we all go through. After we have our initial discovery that we love scrapbooking, we seem to go through a frenzied collection period. Like a squirrel gathering nuts, we collect tools and supplies like crazy, often without really understanding our own style yet.

I did this as a paper scrapper and I have an enormous amount of "stuff" to prove it. I also did this as a digital scrappper and I have a bursting hard drive and a lot of cd backups to prove it.

In both cases trends have changed, and I have changed. There are supplies I will never use and I need to get rid of. Sure, I could hang on to them forever in hopes that I will use them, but even if you have the storage space, the mental burden of having all that "stuff" you will never use just weighs on you. Physically, you spend more time moving around and organizing products than you will ever spend using them. Digitally, it slows down your hard drive (as in the case of my excessive collection of fonts) and it takes longer to find what you want.

I did the same thing when I found blogs. I use the bloglines reader and I just added every blog from ever scrapbooker. Recently I have started deleting blogs that don't give me regular and useful content. I just don't have the time to wade through all that information every day. I'm going to narrow it down to a handful of useful and interesting blogs. I'll be weeding my bloglines and my fonts today, just like I need to weed my yard - but I think I will still put that one off for a day or two! LOL!




This same principle can be applied to life in general. When you have to many possesions, you spend all your time managing them. When you have too much to do, you often end up chasing yourself in circles trying to keep them all straight. It is a balance that we need and we are all always striving to achieve it.

So whether you are thinking about a paper collection, your closet, your refrigerator, or your hard drive... clear some space today and do some weeding. You will feel lighter because of it and you will feel more able to be creative as a result!




Happy Weeding!

Katie the Scrapbook Lady

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Organization on the hard drive

Digital Scrappers love to brag about how they don't make messes anymore, and indeed that is probably my favorite part of digi-scrapping. However, you quickly learn that you need to be organized within the confines of your hard drive or you run out of space and find it difficult to scrap. Why is space always an issue?

Even traditional scrapbookers often use computers for digital pictures, fonts, and journaling so these tips should be helpful to everyone.



FONTS:

I love fonts! I currently have 1,379 of them installed on my computer! I didn't have to count them - I use the font hit tool - a free software program to organize my fonts. I know there are others out there as well, but I really like this one. You can sort your fonts several ways, it is easy to see them all in one place, and printing out a illustrated list of fonts is a snap! I do print out a new list every few months when I have added quite a few fonts and then I keep it in a binder on a shelf next to my computer. Most of the time I pick my fonts right on screen as I'm working, but sometimes it is so helpful to see them in print.

Here's a screen shot of the font hit program:



I'm getting ready to buy a laptop computer so I'm going to want to transfer my fonts to the new laptop. I decided to backup all my fonts to a DVD this morning which will be a good backup as well. I won't need to install every font on the new laptop as some will already come with the computer and the Word program I will install on it. I know there are some other ways to do this. There are some online tutorials for using the file transfer wizard in Windows XP so I'm going to study those as well. Here's a link from Dell that is useful.





PHOTOS:

Because I'm currently sharing a computer with my children (and their programs) and the computer is also a few years old - I'm constantly running out of space. With all the digital kits and photos I have on my computer, I need to frequently back up to discs to make space. I'm hoping this will improve with my new laptop purchase, but I know I won't be able to keep everything on my hard drive.

Backups are important, but I also like to have my pictures in online albums available through photo processing sites. The albums are easy to share with friends and family and easy to order prints from. I use Costco and Sony Image Station. One thing I love about Image Station is if you are willing to become at least a "silver level member" - I think it was $4.99 for the year to do that? then you have access to your original image as well. What does this mean? Well, you can click on the photo and access your original jpeg file then copy it into your editing program. Very useful!

I use Costco to print out my layouts right now, but I'm spending a fortune this way. I love the look of the professionally printed layouts, but I may just consider investing in a better printer since ours has recently started jamming with every print job.

I do like that I have my pictures in 2 different online systems in case something ever happened to one of them. However, I've been careful to choose companies that I thought would be stable and around for the long term - don't think I have to worry about either Costco or Sony going under anytime soon.

Another photo organization tool that is very helpful is the Picasa Photo Organizer from Google - and it's free! This tool takes every image on your computer and organizes them in a very user friendly way. It also does some fun tricks like collages and photo stacks and you can send pictures directly to blogger or emails.

Here's a screen shot:






JOURNALING:

A blog is a wonderful tool for journaling. I often pull from entries I have made on my blog and include them in layouts. I'm not the only one. If you have read Cathy Zielske's new book, or one of Ali Edwards articles in Creating Keepsakes, you will recognize a lot of the content in the journaling has been on their blogs previously.

Even if you are not a blogger, you may use your computer for journaling. Even though I'm a digital scrapbooker, I usually cut and paste my journaling into Word so I can do spelling and grammar checks - plus it is easier to read that way. Sometimes I will save the journaling as a file in word if I know I want to use it elsewhere, like a letter to a family member, blog or journal entry. When I was a paper scrapper I used the computer a lot for journaling. I always saved my files so I could alter them and print them out for other pages (like grandparent books.) Keep a folder on your hard drive just for journaling and date and label your entries to make them easy to find.

If you are typing a large blog entry (like this one) or a lot of journaling, be sure to save as you go. You don't want to put all that work into a document and lose it because of a computer glich!





DIGITAL KITS & ELEMENTS:

Digital image files are really like pictures, but a kit will have several images that work best if they are kept together. I like to keep all my digital files together by designer since I post my work online and need to include credits. I create a folder for each designer and file the appropriate kits in each folder. This is also an easy way to see which designers you like the most, because their folders will be the most full.

I also save a preview of each kit and put that in a different folder labeled previews. Then it is easy to browse through all your kits at once. Some people print out this list of previews but I haven't done that since I am always adding to my digital kits with freebies and purchases. It would be a good idea though. One thing I have done using the Picasa tool I mentioned under the photos heading, is to make a webpage of my previews. I promise that this is very easy to do!

Simply go to the folder of your previews within the Picasa program. Then "select all pictures" in that folder. Then in that same menu (it is on the top right of the selected folder and the buttons says "actions") select the option to make a web page. It will take you through the process step by step and then your web page will pop up.

Be sure to save this to your bookmarks. I like to put it right on my toolbar. This won't be the kind of web page you can send a link to another person, this will only work on your computer. But then you won't even have to open your photo editing program to see your previews.

Here's a screen shot of my previews web page:



yep - I know that's a lot of previews! LOL!

I chose the white background 1 page option when creating this in Picassa - this is my favorite format because you can see all the thumbnails on the left side of the screen. Whatever kit you want to see in more detail, simply click on the thumbnail, and it will bring up the larger picture on the screen.

You can also create folders for smaller elements like flowers, doodles, ribbons, buttons, etc. I haven't done a lot of this yet, mostly because of disk space. I also like to keep my things together by kit. But it is up to you how you want to organize. Just find a system that works for you.

Hope you have enjoyed looking through my hard drive.




Have a happy Wednesday!


Katie the Scrapbook Lady

A short diversion off the path

In the middle of my week long theme of organization on this blog - I thought I would take a minute and let you know that Ali Edwards has made my day by posting links to some of my autism pages on her blog. You can read her blog entry here and see a cute picture of her little boy and another fun one of her dancing and having a great time! She is such a creative inspiration and you can just tell that she is genuinely a nice person as well.

Thanks Ali!



I have already received several nice comments from people who personally emailed me to tell me that they were grateful and happy to read the information I have shared. Thank you so much for your kind words, they mean a lot to me.


There's also an anonymous comment here on my blog letting me know that my "What Not to Say" article was offensive. I can understand the points made by this person and I don't pretend that writing an article like that will make everyone happy.

The good responses far outweigh the few bad responses (I'm sure there will be more) and I'm ok with getting both. I am surprised though at how many times in the last year someone has lashed out at me for something like this. Usually it is a parent of someone with autism and I guess in a way I can understand that because there is a whole world of hurt there that has to be worked through.

Anyway, scrapbooking is a much safer topic in general so I usually try and stick to that. But I won't pretend that my life doesn't have autism in it and I would never expect anyone else to do the same.

Of course I love to visit Ali's blog for the same reason that hundreds (or more likely thousands) of other scrappers do... she's talented, nice, and very cool! But I also love that she shares little bits of her world with others, especially the really dear stuff like her son's struggles with autism.

I sincerely hope no one ever sends her anonymous posts criticizing her for her for how she is trying to help others deal with one of the greatest trials they will ever face in life. I'm not being dramatic or even trying to be rude to other well-meaning people by saying this, but unless you've been there, you just don't understand. Just as I could never understand the pain of having a child who has cancer.

Autism is so confusing to understand and quite often it appears to others that the child just has a behavioral problem and they feel like they should say something to make the parent do a better job. No one (as far as I know) would walk up to a stranger in a grocery store and criticize their child for being in a wheelchair, or think that it was the parent's fault. But you wouldn't believe the stuff that gets said to a parent of a child with autism when they actually do dare go out in public.

This is especially true when the child is very young. Anyone who has ever had a 3 year old child with or without a disability, will tell you that it is no picnic to take them out to a store or restaurant. But add autism in the mix and it can be something beyond description. It's not just strangers either. Relatives spend their time blaming other sides of the family for "bad genes" or all sorts of things like that. It is just a difficult situation. It does usually get better with time, but at first it is all quite painful.

Please know that the true intent behind the article I wrote, is simply to increase better understanding of what a family with autism goes through, especially as they struggle with a recent diagnosis. My advice is simply to be a friend and do more listening than talking. It shouldn't always be that way, but a parent will need some extra support at first. No Ph.D needed, just only some patience. And of course we all make mistakes, no way around that. I don't have all the answers, these are just my suggestions.


I appreciate all input and I thank you sincerely for reading my blog and visiting my website.

Back to my regularly scheduled programming tomorrow!

Katie the Scrapbook Lady

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Katie's April Roundup

Be sure to zip on over to 2Peas - the May free kit is up!


This week my blog theme is organization and I thought that sharing my own roundup with you would be the perfect way to kick off that theme! This monthly roundup has become one of my greatest tools for organization. It helps me take stock of the past month, and also perform tasks that would otherwise build up and become unmanageable.



If you missed the roundup questions, be sure to read yesterday's post. You can use the prompts in any way you want to help you journal about the past month. Post it on your blog to share with others, or keep it to yourself. Either way, I'm sure you will find this to be a useful tool for organization in your own life!


Here's my April Roundup:

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?

Ali Edwards – A Designer’s Eye for Scrapbooking. I’ve read this before but it has been awhile. I really took the time to study this and even did a week long blog feature on Ali Edwards so I feel as if I learned a lot from Ali and this book during the month of April.

I read a couple of People magazines during doctor and hair appointments this month. I don’t think I learned anything valuable from those! LOL!

I finished a book that I have been working on since March called “Different Minds:Gifted Children with AD/HD, Asperger Syndrome, and Other Learning Deficits by Deidre V. Lovecky. This is not a “page turner” type of book. In fact it was a very difficult read for me because it is such a technical book with lots of case studies. It was interesting and useful for me though.

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff with Your Family by Richard Carlson Ph.D. I've had this little book on my shelf for quite awhile now and I'm not sure what inspired me to finally get it down and read it this month. Glad I did though. Nothing deep or profound in here, but simple stuff that makes you realize you can do things better. I especially liked the advice for letting the phone ring sometimes without answering it (my husband can NOT do this!) and also scheduling some "white space" on your calendar.

My son and I started listening to Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince on CD and my daughter and I have been reading Mrs. Piggle Wiggle Books.

I also read Family Fun magazine. I didn't read any of my scrapbooking magazines this month, I just let them pile up!


What movies and/or tv shows did I watch this month?

I watched more tv this month than I have in a long time!
I watched several episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond, and Friends.
My husband and I watched 5 episodes of The Apprentice that have been sitting on our TiVo for quite some time. -I had to look away as I added the link for that show because we are not caught up yet so I don't want to know who's been fired!

Also watched Extreme Home Makeover. We loved the episode where Kermit the Frog was the host! The episode where they helped rebuild a Texas town that had been devastated by Hurricane Rita was also really neat. I love the premise of this show.

I took my kids to see Ice Age 2 and we all really enjoyed it. Good movie.

We also went as a family to see The Wild. The kids loved the movie, the grownups just thought it was so-so.

I also watched Barbie Mermaidia and Mulan 2 with my daughter. I liked Mulan 2 better than the Barbie movie.

Also watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban with both of my kids.

What special days did I celebrate and how?

Our family had some special days in April, some of which I won’t post about here. We did have an Easter Egg Hunt in our neighborhood and also one at Grandma & Grandpa’s house (Dad’s side.)



We celebrate Easter but we decided to learn about Passover and Lent this month as well. We really want our kids to have a taste of other cultures and religions. This ended up being a neat experience for us.


What illnesses or health concerns did I have in April?


I had my yearly check up in April so I was proud of myself for doing that. Everything checked out nicely. My doctor did want me to get my blood sugar tested and also the routine cholesterol check so I had to spend a day doing blood tests. You can read about the thieves stealing my blood here! LOL! For some reason I was wiped out for almost 2 days from that experience!

Other than that, no illnesses this month. My daughter had a mild bout of hay fever but everyone stayed healthy in April! YAY!


What fun things did I do with my friends and/or family?


My husband and son went on an overnight scout camp and so I had a girl’s night at home with my daughter.

We also went to a concert at Temple Square which was nice. Took our kids and my mother-in-law with us and I got to take lots of pictures of flowers on the Temple grounds. Coming to a layout very soon!

Hubby and I got to go on a few dates which was nice. We have found a wonderful respite provider who is perfect for our kids and she came once a week and did fun stuff with the kids while we went out. Awesome!


What new foods, recipes or restaurants did I try in April?

Because we learned about Passover, we tried some new foods like falafel, knish, & Matzoh bread. The kids thought the Matzoh bread was going to be a wonderful treat when they looked at it, and they were pretty dissapointed when they tasted it. We all liked the knish & falafel though.



I also experimented with making Gnocchi one night - I've always wanted to try it and we generally like Italian food. It wasn't our favorite, but it was interesting to try.

What special or unusual purchases did I make?


We bought a dresser at Target for my daughter's room. She really needed one and it turned out very nice - hubby put it together.



I ordered a few books from amazon.

Other than that I didn't buy a lot this month. I was really good about sticking to the budget which will help because we have a lot of big expenses coming in May!


What were this month’s disappointments?

I did close down my quote blog and my autism blog which may seem like a dissapointment, but I'm actually glad about this decision. I feel more focused and like I have a better vision now - see below.

Oh, and I royally screwed up my hair! Went in for highlights and apparently, the stylist thought that meant she should strip every bit of color out of my hair and leave big chunks of it still dark in the back. It looked so awful - and I'm not exaggerating! My son walked right by me, didn't even know who I was. My daughter screamed when she saw me and my dog growled at me! LOL! I bought a box of Loreal haircolor the next day and added some brown back into my life. It is still pretty light though and I'm really unhappy with it!




What were my accomplishments this month?

I actually feel like April was one of my greatest months of personal accomplishments. During the month of April I:

completely redesigned my website at www.scrapbooklady.org

opened a new online store

created 3 new quote packs and redid my mini album instructions for sale on my site.

wrote the May issue of An Amazing Month of Memories and also created a companion quote pack to go along with it.

designed an April freebie for my site, and also a May freebie that is available now.

completed all of my design team requirements (and then some) for Ashley Olson, Trish Jones and Mindy Terasawa.

entered the Sugar Babe contest, and while I didn’t move on to the next round, I’m happy that I entered.

participated in Scrapbook Bytes weekly Month of Memories challenge that is based on my own Amazing Month of Memories series.

finished 21 digital layouts

and

My blog was picked at Pajama Market's Small Business Blog of the Day and also nominated for a Scrapper's Choice Award.

I feel like I have gained a new clarity in vision for myself. I decided to put away the autism book I have been writing (and stressing about) for years and just focus on being me. I still have a significant amount of autism related information on my website, but I finally let go of feeling like I had to do this book thing. It’s a good feeling.

My autism awareness layout was featured on the Digi Pick of the Day Blog and I had so many wonderful comments and emails about that layout. What a neat experience!

I cleaned out my pantry (which was long overdue) and reorganized my daughter's entire room!

I think it was a pretty good month if I may say so myself!

I'm still working on some of the tasks like getting all my pictures uploaded, but I did get all my layouts printed out today so that feels like a big accomplishment.


I also thought I would post my "by the numbers" stats here:

As of April 30th - I've now had 22,131 blog visitors.

My website has had a total of 319,599 visitors!

My newsletter has 2,974 subscribers.



Next post will be about using the roundup tool to project forward into May - great for goal setting and planning in general.

Thanks for reading my roundup!


Katie the Scrapbook Lady

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Welcoming May

I will post my roundup later today (see last entry) but for now I wanted to get May started off on the right foot by hooking you up with a few freebies!



My free gift for May is now available on my site at this link.

Here's a preview:






If you purchased the May issue of An Amazing Month of Memories, here's a link to a wonderful freebie you could use for your Cinco de Mayo pages. Designed by the generous and talented Tiff Brady and is available at this link at Scrapartist. Thanks Tiff!




Remember that this is the last day you can buy the May quote pack at 50% off. After that it will be $3.50 (which is still only .10 cents a quote!) unless you buy it in combination with the May issue of An Amazing Month of Memories - then you will still get the half price deal on the quotes.


Come back later for my roundup!

Katie the Scrapbook Lady

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