One Little Word Blog Hop-April

Welcome to my blog! If you are following the hop you should have come from Stacey- if not and you want to check out the other stops start with Margie. Margie organizes the hop and does a lot of work to make it happen- thanks Margie!!

Last month I had a giveaway of a crocheted flower bookmark, and it went to Cassie_lu.  Cassie's favorite flower is a dogwood- creamy white with pink at the tips.  And this is how it came out:

This picture is actually way bigger than the actual flower it came out about 1.5" diameter.

I hope you like it Cassie! It's in the mail today. If you want one...keep reading...
At the end of February I didn't have enough grow pictures...but thanks to some great ideas (some from you) I ended up with 2 pages of pictures.

Here is the whole collection:

One of the things I have been wanting to grow is my business.  Sooo during March I applied for and was accepted onto 2 design teams and I am really excited!!  Check out some of my March posts for my first projects. 

As part of my emotional growth I signed up to take Write Down to your Nitty Gritty at BPC and  it has me working hard and digging deep. It is such a powerful tool.  I also did Stacy's iScrap class it was another amazing Growth Experience...I still haven't finished all of the journaling, but I'm working on it. 

And the challenge in my Log Your Memory Planner for this week was a good one too-10 things that make me smile (except I couldn't stop at 10). Part of my growth is stopping to appreciate things (It helps keep me from losing my temper).

Here's my page:

Coming into April I have a really busy month ahead...I am attending True Scrap,   I am teaching a page class at my Local Scrapbooking store, my one annual holiday (The Memorial of Christ's Death) is April 24th (And is also the anniversary of my husband's death 8 years ago) and if that wasn't enough- I signed up to increase my ministry to 30 hours during April (I can hardly wait)...Lets just hope we all stay as healthy as possible!

And for those of you who read that entire thing...I have another giveaway- once again I will pick a random commenter and send them a crocheted flower in their choice of color...I can't guarantee I can make your favorite flower...but if I can I will.  And in the spirit of growth-(decluttering my scrap studio is growth) I will throw in some random scrap stuff to grow your stash a little bit...Just leave me a comment with your favorite color & flower (and maybe some love) by April 10th, and you're eligible.  And if you don't win, but you still want one...here is a link to my ETSY shop (I only have a couple flowers on there right now, but special orders are always accepted.  If you order in April and use the Code on the sidebar you'll get free shipping (U.S. Only please)).
Your next stop is  Rebekah and in case you get lost or want to jump around here is the entire list:

Margie	http://xnomads.typepad.com/blog
Amanda	http://scrappnbee.blogspot.com
Donna	http://donnabryantdurand.blogspot.com
Joy	www.undiscoveredjoy.blogspot.com
Jan	http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com
Jamie	http://jmpgirl.blogspot.com/
Nikki	http://www.inkyart.com.au
Monica B2	www.questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com
Cindy	http://seriousplay.typepad.com
Stacey	http://www.TheAcornGarden.com/blog
Katrina	http://k84mansramblings.blogspot.com/
Rebekah	http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com/
Monica	http://scraplifters.blogspot.com/
Chrissy	http://getcraftywithchrissy.blogspot.com/
Jill	http://jillconyers.typepad.com/
Lisa	http://makeyourownescape.blogspot.com
Kathryn	www.katlodesigns.com
Jennifer	www.studiojenn.blogspot.com
Jen	www.byjen.com
Sam	http://learncreatedo.wordpress.com/
Miranda	http://mirandasscrapsite.blogspot.com
Lynn	www.crafty-creativity.blogspot.com
Cynthia	http://paperpapereverywhere.blogspot.com/
Cheri A	http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com
Deb	http://blakleyhomeplace.blogspot.com
Nicky	www.seejanebake.blogspot.com
Karen D	http://womenontractors.blogspot.com/
Tina	http://ryzmomplus2.typepad.com/my_weblog/
Kimberly	http://foreverdaisies.blogspot.com/
Abbey	http://athomewiththerichardsfamily.blogspot.com/
Julie Ann  Lisa	http://julieannshahin2.blogspot.com http://backtoallen.com/writers_blog/

I hope to see you next month.

One Little Word March Blog Hop

So If you are joining me for the blog hop Welcome! You should have come from Karen. 
If not you're still Welcome-and if you want to check out the blog hop from the beginning go see Margie.
My name is Katrina. I am a widow and a SAHM with one amazing,  precocious 8 year-old son named Ryno (Okay we just call him that, he's really Ryan.)  I love the FlyLady,  BPC and ScrapHappy.  I scrapbook, crochet and volunteer at my local Elementary School.
Anywhoo back to One Little Word...

 I've had a little trouble finding pictures that go with "Grow" for some reason.  At the beginning of the month I had some great ideas.  I took those pictures and then no more ideas!  (Just as I typed that I remembered one that I forgot to take, But I've got it now!) Well, I am going to keep working on it because one of my favorite Scrapbook Ladies says "You are never behind in scrapbooking" And the FLyLady say "You are not behind, you are just getting started" So I am just going to keep moving forward with baby steps where necessary.  To find out more about me and my word check out this previous post. 
Like many of you, I have just finished LOAD which was certainly a growth experience.  And I did at least one layout every single day in February-personally I did 32 Layouts in 28 days!  I never would have thought it.  Now I know I can do it!!! So here are a few of my pictures for "GROW"

My Scrapbook Album After LOAD. (I just thought of using this I'm so glad I did)

See those tiny little leaves that mean new growth?  This plant is in my kitchen and has been in danger of dying more than once, but it just keeps on surviving and even growing.

At one time the little one was  Ryan's shoe, now he wears the bigger one.

And look how fast he is outgrowing those pants!

The other day I noticed this in my tiny little sheltered flower bed.  It's Crocus Hooray! Spring is coming!! It's Growing warmer and my flowers are starting to grow!

The Growth Chart on my son's bedroom wall (The one I just took)

1.   I hope you have enjoyed this little peek at me & my life. I am a sporadic blogger, but have gotten more consistent lately. More to rave about?  Perhaps.  More to rant about? Certainly, and I can always ramble.

      I am a crocheter too and sometimes crochet things that scrapbookers can use so check out my ETSY store and leave a comment (here) about what your favorite item is or what you would like to see on there or a hint about how I might "Grow" my Etsy business, Or some picture ideas for Grow? (or if you just want to comment about the blog post that is okay too). I will be giving one random commenter a crocheted flower bookmark in their favorite color.  (U.S. Only Please)

Next on the hop is: Monica and in case anyone got lost  here is the whole list:

   1. Margie                          http://xnomads.typepad.com

2.    Monica B                              http://scraplifters.blogspot.com/

3.    Jill                        http://jillconyers.typepad.com/

4.    Miranda                 http://mirandasscrapsite.blogspot.com

5.    Donna                        http://www.donnabryantdurand.blogspot.com

6.    Lynn                                          www.crafty-creativity.blogspot.com           

7.    Stacey                        http://www.TheAcornGarden.com/blog

8.    Lisa                                    http://backtoallen.com/writers_blog

9.    Cassie                        http://craftycassiescorner.blogspot.com

10. Abbey                                    http://athomewiththerichardsfamily.blogspot.com/

11. Nicky                                    http://seejanebake.blogspot.com

12. Holly                                    http://lovingrobots.blogspot.com

13. Karen                                    http://breathenowsmile.blogspot.com

14. Claudia                        http://creative-moms.com

15. Rebekah                        http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com

16. Kimberly                        http://foreverdaisies.blogspot.com

17. Kat                                    www.katswonderings.blogspot.com

18. Kristina                        http://ciqis.blogspot.com

19. Jan                                    http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com

20. Nikki                                    http://www.inkyart.com.au/

21. Amanda                        www.scrappnbee.blogspot.com

22. Lisa                                    http://luluoz.typepad.com

23. Sam                                    http://learncreatedo.wordpress.com

24. Maureen                        http://cookingmylife.blogspot.com

25. Kristi                                      http://theprojectofme.wordpress.com

26. Tere                                    http://terecontodomicorazon.blogspot.com

27. Karen                                    http://womenontractors.blogspot.com

28. Katrina                          http://k84mansramblings.blogspot.com

29. Monica Bergler            http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com

30. Mandy                        http://captureandcreate.wordpress.com

31. Lisa                                    http://makeyourownescape.blogspot.com

32. Chrissy                        http://getcraftywithchrissy.blogspot.com

33. Lee                     http://linarstudio.typepad.com/embracelife

34. Jen                                    www.byjen.com

35. Sylvia                                    http://baxtersmom1.blogspot.com/

36. Christianne                        http://christiannemarra.blogspot.com/

37. Cheri                                    http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com

38.  Joy                                    www.undiscoveredjoy.blogspot.com

39.  Beth                                    http://justbebeth.wordpress.com/

40.  Jennifer L                        www.studiojenn.blogspot.com

41.  Kathryn                        www.katlodesigns.com

42.  Heather                        www.scrappyhare.blogspot.com

43.  Cindy                                    http://seriousplay.typepad.com    

44. Cynthiau                        http://paperpapereverywhere.blogspot.com/

 Thanks for Visiting!

LOAD day 8 Ryan my hero

So it's no secret that I am a crafter.  My scrapbooker self comes out daily this month with LOAD (For more information click on the link) and on a regular basis the rest of the year with Big Picture Classes (BPC), there is no hiding my yarn addiction since I carry a crochet project nearly everywhere I go.
As you know my Word this year is GROW.(for more info look at my last post).  So part of my growth is to be more present with my son. When the day was drawing near to an end I headed downstairs to my scrapbook studio to do my page.  My son followed along. He wanted to do a "craft" together.  We ended up doing this page together:

I asked him for his favorite: 1.color 2. Food 3. TV show 4. Toy 5. Person 6. Human (if wondering why see # 5's answer) 7. Song 8. School subject.  At one point he told me to look the other way, and he stuck his name on in letter stickers.  He picked the "my hero" rub on (his first experience with rub ons- he was fascinated) he asked if he could use the gems, and did another "Look over there mom" thing and stuck the flower on with scotch tape. After everything was adhered (me putting glue dots on gems and buttons, him sticking them wherever he wanted) I realized it would be really nice to have his handwriting on it, so  I asked him to write something he is good at and something he likes about himself on the quote paper. I was hoping for something a little more personal than " I like that I can go to the webkins website"  especially since he hasn't been to that site in over a year, but I guess it will do.  He is good at "vidio games" that is for sure! Seeing what he thinks

of himself tells me that I need to work on his self esteem a bit more. 

He has been on ADHD meds since Saturday, and so far not much has changed here at home, we will have to see what his teachers think when they reevaluate this Friday. I hope that if school becomes easier for him, and focusing not so much struggle, he will start to see what a great kid he really is and not be so hard on himself.

My One Little Word

Sometime in January I was inspired by an email to take a year long workshop taught by Ali Edwards called One Little Word.  I have taken classes from Ali at BPC before, and in person at CKU, and have never failed to be inspired by her. In short the idea of One Little Word is for one word to inspire you for the year.  (For more info click on the link) I was stuck between 3 different words for quite a while- which would I choose Balance, Nurture or Focus? I had already done a Layout with a list of goals for 2011 back in December.  Here it is:

 

When I showed it to a friend she said I was selling myself short- that I was already a great mom (Are you tearing up yet?  I am. I have such amazing friends) she said it should be to GROW as a mom.  

When I got home I looked up the definition of grow (I had already looked up the others and still couldn't choose).  I realized that I need to grow in many areas of my life.  That I could Grow in nurturing, balance and focus and GROW as a person.  I started to see growth all around me: my son's literal growth, plants with new growth.  So in a way you could say the word GROW chose me.  (I now see it in capital letters in my head). 

Ever since my hubby died in 2003, I have felt stuck in so many ways.  Looking back I can see that I have grown and changed and healed in many ways.  It has been a gradual, sometimes not even noticeable, process...but it has been a process.  So here is my January project:

Title page:

Beginnings photograph:

And here is my page where I (using a template from Ali) explored GROW, its definition, synonyms, and even some verses and quotes using the word GROW.

So here is to growth! It won't be easy, but it will be worth it.