playful.productive.present

Happy Birthday USA!

Grandma scheduled a flag raising at 8:00 am. complete with assignments for all.

Trey + Taft the cub scouts presented the flag and ...

Clark helped them "post the colors" after which he led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. I said the prayer and Geoff and Nika selected patriotic songs to sing.

The highlight was Addie saying "grama" and letting us take a picture of her -- what cute girls!
We just ate another delicious breakfast (puffed pancake + blueberries + raspberries + powdered sugar) and now we're off to decorate the tractor for the parade.

Life is good.

Just for FUN: Cut the top portion off your local newspaper and save it to use along with the photos you take today!

Right Now (Friday, July 3rd 2009)

Our family drove to Seattle yesterday, so we can spend the July 4th holiday with my parents.

Right Now ...

Grandpa is outside on the deck, talking to Uncle Drew.

Grandma is cooking bacon

Taft is filling the syrup elephant with syrup

Addie is walking around in one of her four new pair of princess heels.

 

Geoff is encouraging (making) Clark play his piano.

Cousin Nika (Theron + Kristin's daughter) is sleeping away in the "bunny room." This is quite amazing, considering the noise we are all making directly above her.

 

Trey is counting the fishermen on the lake. And ...

I'm attempting to record the present moment, as much as that is possible. We are all missing our Chase, who is on an Outward Bound adventure (he was nominated to go through his expeditionary learning school) outside Baltimore, Maryland.

and ... Right Now, the smell of bacon and oat bran pancakes is calling me to breakfast.

Have a wonderful Friday!

re-purpose | re-think | re-invent (WINNER)

The WINNER of the FREE pass to Jenni's workshop is Kellie. Here is her comment, revealing what she would like to learn.

Kellie said...

I would like to learn how to look for inspiration outside of scrapbooking publications, blogs, galleries, etc. Inspiration in the world at large, I guess. And I would like to refine my personal style as well.

Reply 30 June 2009 at 01:03 PM

I think these are wonderful objectives and I'm sure you will come away with more confidence and plenty of new insights into her personal process for finding and translating inspiration. Thanks for reading my blog!


Kellie -- make sure you are registered at Big Picture Scrapbooking and then email me (stacy@bigpicturescrapbooking.com) Put BLOG WINNER in the subject line and I'll admit you to Jenni's classroom.


Have FUN.
NOTE: Jenni's workshop is open for registration through July 8th, so there is plenty of time to join in!

p.s. Kellie has a passion for cross-stitch and a CUTE blog, called The Stitching Post. Check it out!

Today ...

Today, my sweet baby BIG girl ...

is THREE years old.
What?
How did this happen?

Addie started a FUN Summer Camp yesterday at Scribbles Preschool, with Miss Carol and Miss Jane.
She will go every Tuesday and Wednesday in July and August. Since today is her birthday, we can bring a treat for her friends. I hadn't done anything and was feeling bad about that, BUT ... I got an idea on my morning jog. Trey helped me and we put 10 gummy bears in these pretty little bags (which I've had for a good long time.) I then added a slip of paper with a THREE letter word on it.

My hope is that Addie and her friends can sit in a circle and talk about or make a sound or action for each word and enjoy some interaction with their sugar!

CUTE girl and CUTE idea -- huh?

Today, the July round of inspiration is up at Write. Click. Scrapbook. Be sure to stop by.

Here are some sneak peeks of my layout ...

 

The theme is The Love of COLOR and I LOVE it when I get to scrapbook in a colorful way.

Today, Cathy Zielske's NEW workshop opens for registrations. In fact ... registration opens in about FIVE minutes and the first 50 people to sign up will receive a special package of Happy Mail. 

Later today ... I'll be back with a WINNER for Jenni Bowlin's 4Experts workshop.

A GREAT Book + Jenni Bowlin at Big Picture Scrapbooking

I started reading this book over the weekend. I enjoyed chapter one so much that I read it to Clark last night. I got up this morning and found this blog (from the author, Tina Seelig) and have now added it to my MUST READ list.

Tina is the executive director of the STVP (Stanford Technology Ventures Program) located in the School of Engineering at Stanford University. From chapter one, STVP strives to create "T-shaped people" or someone that has a depth of knowledge in at least one discipline and a breadth of knowledge about innovation and entreprenuership that allows them to work effectively with professionals in other disciplines to bring their ideas to life.

Many of the ideas presented in Tina's book are "the polar opposite of the lessons we are taught in a traditional education system. In fact, the rules that apply in school are often completely different from those in the outside world. This disparity causes incredible stress when we leave school and attempt to find our way." OK ... as a mother of four boys whom I would like to see grow into healthy creative human beings poised to contributed to society in meaningful ways, I NEED to internalize and be able to teach the tools and mind sets that Tina and Stanford share with their top engineering students.

AND ... all of this really does have something to do with scrapbooking. When I invite instructors to be a part of our 4Experts series, I am looking for "T-shaped people" (I just didn't know it) I am looking for people that have an expertise in at least one particular area and yet also have a strong sense of what I call "the big picture" which is an ability to think broadly about instructing and influencing. I am looking for people that have experienced personal innovation and are eager to teach beyond "projects" into "process"

Jenni Bowlin is a T-shaped person with expertise in finding and translating inspiration. She is constantly evolving and learning and growing. I have watched her develop her brand message and do very different and remarkable things in this industry. IN FACT, Jenni just launched the latest iteration of her retail business. You can check it out at JBS Mercantile. In my book, Jenni is one to watch and I am incredibly excited to be giving away a pass to her Re-purpose, Re-think, Re-invent workshop that starts this THURSDAY, July 2nd.

Jenni's opening note to her students speaks of her anticipation at the opening of a flea market -- where the hope of discovering something new and rare causes your heart to race with excitement. This is how Jenni (and all of us BPS) hope students feel as they log into her classroom for the first time. In my opinion, Jenni has so much to share about finding and using inspiration in personal ways. She is a master at adding value to the past and leaving a mark of remembrance on the present. I have always loved her style and the way her work is simplistic without being predictable.

The key to happiness -- at least in scrapbooking is found in your ability to open yourself up to new ideas and new possibilities, to have confidence in your personal style but at the same time decide that you are NEVER going to stop trying new things.

JENNI says: In many ways, this class has been years in the making for me. It has taken that long to recognize what precisely inspires me, to identify resources, and to come to a place where my job and lifestyle centers around my passion.

To have the opportunity to share what I have learned is so thrilling ... AND we are thrilled to have Jenni teaching.

To enter the randon drawing for a FREE pass to Jenni's summer-long adventure, leave a comment with something you like to learn from Jenni. I'll post the winner tomorrow at noon, so those who do not win, will have plenty of time to sign up on their own!!

this moment.

I have a weekend assignment for you. I was recently introduced to a BRAND NEW website, called this moment. I intended to spend about 5 minutes on my initial visit and ended up staying for more like 45 minutes. I was completely blown away!

Clark was outside mowing the lawn and I went out, gave him the "timeout" sign and made him come sit in my office and watch the intro movie. It is that COOL.

I have to be honest and say that I haven't really invested much time or energy into the Facebook thing. I get it, but not really. I've never opened a Flickr account. I sometimes feel like I should, but then I think "Nah, just one more thing to keep track of." I do like and use Twitter -- but the whole TweetDeck thing and managing it makes me feel utterly overwhelmed. But this, my faithful blog readers speaks to me --- this moment combines the FUN of status updates, photo and video sharing and the global connection thing and takes them to a whole NEW level.

this moment.

is what I never knew I always wanted -- this is going to be my online story-telling tool. I am so IN!

The first "moment" I recorded was my attempt at capturing my thoughts and feelings after viewing the website and contemplating the world my children are growing up in. It is a world defined by creativity and connection. I can't even imagine the world my grandchildren ...

Just promise me that sometime this weekend, you'll go take a look. And please, leave me a comment and tell me what you think!

how to make a breakfast parfait ...

in FIVE minutes or less.

Cheerios
yogurt flavor #1
Rice Krispies
yogurt flavor #2
banana slices
whipped cream
SPRINKLES (of course)
and a maraschino cherry

NOTE: The *fancy* glass is very important. I have a mish mash collection from garage sales and 2nd hand stores. If you don't spend very much money, you won't feel bad when something is broken --- and actually, now that I think about it, the two tall glasses pictured here are left-overs from candles I purchased last summer.

The only other requirement is that you speak in a lame French accent when you serve these to your kids.
FUN. EASY. Memorable.

I'm InStyle + cool T-shirts + BPS Savings

the rumors are true. I'm in InStyle.

If you're standing bored in the grocery store line, pick up the July issue (Michelle Pfeiffer is on the cover) and turn to the new column "Got An Hour" -- I got to do a phone interview with Michelle Hainer about photo organization and I'm quoted and listed an as expert. COOL. If you've taken Library of Memories, you may recognize some of the tips.

Speaking of "in style" -- check out my new FAV T-shirt website, SnorgTees.com

I ordered this one for Chase.

this one for Clark.

and this one because it makes me laugh. Not sure who I'll give it to yet.

I'm off to create a layout and work on a mini-book project, but just one more thing ...

Lisa Day's The Challenge of Me workshop started today and Amy is giving away a FREE pass on the BPS Blog. And ... YOU CAN ENJOY SUMMER SAVINGS THROUGH JUNE 30TH (on all BPS classes) by using the code: summer2009

Enjoy.

Bingo Q+A and Scrapbook & Cards Today

So, we started playing Summer BINGO Monday morning and Taft had eaten breakfast, met the prerequisites and built a blanket fort in our living room by 8:30 am. He was asking me question after question and I was rushing around trying to get Trey out the door, to his theater camp. Needless to say, I had to sit down with Taft and explain that BINGO is not a race. You don't really want to have five BINGO squares filled in before lunch. That sort of defeats the purpose ... yada yada.

It's already Thursday. I cannot believe how time flies (and I am having FUN btw) we've made a few adjustments and I'm hearing all kinds of good ideas from other BINGO players. My friend Heather actually set up a Facebook group for Summer BINGO, so if you are interested, please join.

I've received several questions too, so here are some answers. Keep in mind though that when it comes to something like this, you can make up the answers. See the Mom Handbook, page 1 -- I'm joking, but YOU are in charge and can adjust, alter or completely change the "rules" at any time.

Q: Do your kids do chores?

A: Oh yeah -- however, we don't really have a job chart or specifics assignments in the summer. I just make sure I give them all something to do each day to help around the house. Before they can begin playing BINGO they have to make their bed, pick up their clothes, play the piano and complete their "dad" assignment, which is some kind of math, reading or writing assigned by Geoff.

Q: What do the "J21" and "TT" mean at the top of your BINGO cards?

A: Great question (sorry) the "J21" refers to the week (ie, June 21st) and the "TT" stands for Trey and Taft. My younger boys' cards are the same, but I am making a different version of BINGO for Chase, so his card has a "CJ" at the top. These designations are to help me keep things straight. My plan is to change up a few of the squares each week. Next week when we go to my parent's house there are several "blue" squares. These are the activities that are only available at grandma's house. Hope that makes sense.

Q: Where did you get the all yellow stickers?

A: I got the stickers and the tickets at my local Staples.

Q: Just curious. When do you think Addie will get her own BINGO card.

A: I think you could do BINGO with a very young child, but I really wanted to focus on my school-aged children. Addie has Lauren to play with and Lauren has Addie and all the boys to keep track of. For me, I just figured Lauren didn't need one more BINGO card to worry about. I do have some tickets in my desk drawer, so if I'm downstairs in my studio, my boys can come to me to "sign off" on a BINGO.

There are some REALLY FUN ideas being shared over at Facebook, in the Summer BINGO group, so if you have time and want to get or share ideas, join in. NOTE: I think I got the link right, but if I didn't, just go to Facebook and search "Summer Bingo."

When I participated in a retail event this past April in Ontario, Canada, I met up with the editor, Catherine of Scrapbook &  Cards Today. I am SO impressed with this magazine and I'm just really curious if you have seen it, read it, love it ...  It is obviously published in Canada, but it is distributed through local scrapbook stores and is FREE (with purchase) to consumers. It is also available online for FREE.
I have an idea of how Big Picture Scrapbooking might be able to work with this publication and so I'd love to know how many of my blog readers are aware and/or familiar with it. If you have an opinion to share with me about this magazine, I hope you will leave a comment.

Thank YOU.

Quote for June 22

“If only we wanted to be happy, it would be easy; but we want to be happier than other people, which is difficult, since we think them happier than they are.”

Montesquieu

Speaking of "happier" if you haven't read the book, Happier by Tal Ben-Shahar
I highly recommend it. It would make a great summer read that you could pick up and put down easily -- and frankly, a book that I can put down is critical when all the kids are home!

I'll be back later today with some BINGO Q+A.