LOAD 213 Hop Happier :-)

 

 

Does this remind you of yourself?  Even just a little? If it does, you need LOAD213.

Does this remind you of your family?  If so, you need LOAD213.

 

  If you are here for the blog hop, then you have probably already signed up.  If not, what are you waiting for? Enrollment is limited and there are only a few spots left!

 I am so excited...and so not prepared!  Now if you have read my PreLOAD posts before, (if not, check them out here, here and here) you are probably thinking: When are you ever prepared for LOAD?  And it is true I rarely put much effort into preparing.  For me, the joy of LOAD is going with the flow. I look at the prompt and it gives me an idea and I scrap it...no prep needed.  After all, goodness knows I have plenty of supplies!  The most I usually do is:
 1. Stock up on photo paper, ink and adhesive and
 2.  Clean my desk...
      I have plenty of adhesive. I bought ink cartridges today and I will likely never run out of photo paper.  My desk (at least the top of it) is clean... so what is the problem?  I can barely get to my desk!  And right now I have had such a busy couple weeks that I'm not sure when I will get it cleaned up.  But do you know what?

IT DOESN'T MATTER!!!

Clean room, messy room, old supplies or new ones...LOAD will be worth it! I will get so many stories told!

LOAD has changed my life.  And not just my scrapbooking life, my WHOLE life. Here are a few things I have learned from LOAD:

1) Done is better than perfect.
                  I tend to be the kind of perfectionist who doesn't like to start something unless I think it can be done perfectly...(no wonder I have a messy house!)  So  I am trying to embrace this in many different aspects of life. Like learning Nepali...Who would ever have thought that I would be able to converse with people from the other side of the world in their language?  (Certainly not my High School French teacher).  But I can and even though I can't speak perfectly, I can usually make myself understood to some degree.  And they are so appreciative. 

2) Color makes me happy.
                  Before LOAD I did not realize just how much difference a little color can make.

3) Scrap Therapy Works!
                 When I tell a painful story on a scrapbook layout, it is somehow easier to let go of the pain.  I used to do nothing but cry when I looked at pictures of my late husband, now the happy memories come through and I can smile and sometimes even laugh at his old jokes and the silly things he used to do. And the happy memories are stronger than the painful ones.  Here is a therapy LO I did during LOAD 1012:


 I love it so much.  It brings back all the joy of my wedding and honeymoon...And even though I will always miss him, I can be happy remembering.

3) Worry is counterproductive:
            Worry fixes nothing.  It only makes things worse!  In that spirit, I no longer worry about forgetting the little things that my DS or nephew said or did...because they have been captured.  I no longer worry about how little my son will know about his father...because the stories are in my scrapbooks.  And when life is overwhelming and I wonder if it is worth the work I put into it, I remember that things have been worse...and progress is being made.  If I need proof...it's on my bookshelf.  And even if some of our stories are missing, that just means there are more layouts to make!

4) There is no behind in scrapbooking! Or LOAD.
             We all take way more photos than we can possibly scrapbook in a lifetime! If we were to be "Caught up" there would be no memories to scrapbook, no more stories to tell. To me that would be a tragedy!  I need never worry that I will run out of things to scrapbook. After all I am continually making new memories...aren't you?   Also,  Lain's prompts always, always, Always, remind me of an idea or a story that hasn't been told.

5) Life happens only one day at a time. 
           So if I mess up today, I can do better tomorrow.  If I miss today's page, there is always tomorrow. So what if the vacuum gets a little dusty and some dishes pile up in the sink.  So what if the laundry hamper overflows... It will all  still be there tomorrow.   What is important is we are making and preserving memories.  It will all be worth it, whether we make 1 Layout or 28.


And in LOAD 213 we are going to learn to Scrap Happier and Be Happier...who doesn't need that?!

So Come on, Scrap Happier with us!!!



I would love to hear about how LOAD has changed your life...so leave me a comment, or better still, make a layout about it in February and share it in the Flickr Gallery.


And now back to the hop...here is the entire list:

Heather Dubarry: http://noexcusescrapbooking.com

Alison Day: http://adayinthelifeor5.blogspot.com/

Danielle Taylor: http://scrapperonthestreet.com

Alison Charlton: http://scrappinginsingapore.blogspot.com/

Christy Strickler: http://myscrapbookevolution.blogspot.com/

Lynnette Nagle: http://sassyscrapper2010.blogspot.com/

Julie Shepler: www.sheplerfamily.com

Joy McHargue: http://www.studiowowjoy.com/

Kelli Panique: http://scrapbookgirl71.com/

Cathy Holiday: pikespeakscrapper.blogspot.com

Leslie Smith: http://lcsmithsaved-outofthemire.blogspot.com/

Lori Martin: http://Www.chaosandcraziness.com/

Connie Hanks: http://ClickyChickCreates.wordpress.com

Betsye Erazo: betsyerose.blogspot.com

Marcia Fortunato: mfortunato.blogspot.com

Regina Huminski: http://ginabeth1.blogspot.com/

Beth Soler: http://www.scrappingwonders.com

Kristie Sloan: http://kristiesloan.com/blog/

Danielle Hunter: http://ecoscrapbook.blogspot.com/

Katrina Forman: http://k84mansramblings.blogspot.com You Are Here!

Jessica Baldwin: www.inkyaddict.com Go Here Next! 
Cheryl McCain: http://cherylmccainphotography.com 

Briel Schmitz: http://scrappingwindow.blogspot.com/

Marygail Mello: www.marygailscorner.blogspot.com

 Thanks for hopping over to see me.  I can't wait to see what Lain has in store to help us all Scrap Happier!!!  See you in the gallery!  Now go Visit Jessica Here and leave her some love too!

Clear It Circle Card Challenge

First of all I want to apologize for being MIA for the last couple months.  My Computer had a trojan and try as we might, my techie friends &  I couldn't fix it. I finally had to buy a new computer! I have also been having some health challenges and parenting dilemmas...those never end of course, but they seem to have calmed down.  I am so happy to be back!

And Now....
 It's time for a new challenge at the Clear It Out Challenge Blog. 
We are doing Circles!  Anything goes for the stash item so see what you can Clear Out of your stash.
 :-).  Our Sponsor is Digi Darla:

Here is my card:

Isn't she cute!  this image is called Hayley's Hat. Find it here. 

I've been experimenting with different copics for skin tones.  For some reason I never like the ones called Skin or Baby Skin...oh well. I used a couple of the really light yellow reds (YR000, & YR00 along with Brick White (E40) to give a little "tan" to the shading.  What do you think?

I decide to use some of my "newer" (aka purchased sometime within the last year or so. I think it was September or October...) stash instead of digging so deep.  I used some punch outs from Cloud9 Design's Specialty collection for the frames. I just traced them onto some white Wausau cardstock for the shape, and cut them out. All my embellies are from Colorbok's Antique Paperie. There are some glitter punch outs and a chipboard sticker.  A couple pop dots and a glue dot later...Hayley is smiling.  Why?  Because you are wonderful! This could be a "Thank You", "Thinking of You", a "Great Job" or even a "Hang In There" card. Can you think of any other possibilities?


I can hardly wait to see what you create with circles! Be sure to link your projects up at the Clear it Out Challenge Blog.