I just wanted to check in to let you know I am still here & hope to be back soon with a project or something scrapbook related to share.

Since my last post, “Making Changes”, we sold our house & moved into a temporary rental while the job hunt continues.

Unfortunately, my supplies look like this:

Making changes (part 2) blog post; scrapbooking supplies still all packed up. — All packed up

While the supplies are packed up, my mind is still coming up with ideas for layouts, books & organizing I want to do.

I hope to get back to working on my Heritage photobook soon & will have more to share about that process.

I am also still trying to decide what to do with all the 12×12 scrapbooks and how I want to continue documenting going forward.

Thank you for your patience while I get my new schedule set up and please check back in soon!

Machelle

Blog News

family stories Scrapbooking

July 8, 2019

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Making changes

by Machelle Willing

So this first picture is the reason why I have been MIA lately. This small town girl didn’t last long in the big city. After so many years of living in my hometown, Scott got used to wide open spaces as well. Scott’s job is not living up to expectations and neither one of us is happy here, so we are selling our house and looking to move back to the Central Texas area.

We have been busy trying to keep the house clean with two shedding huskies and two long haired cats. It’s a full-time job!

Change of any kind is hard for me, whether it is moving or trying to re-do almost 20 years of scrapbooks. Trying to wrap my head around a new way of doing something takes some time. Below is the process I decided on regarding my current scrapbooks.

******************************************

** With everything being digital these days, it is always important to have a backup of your pictures. Taking pictures of the current layouts serves two purposes; to remember what the original looked like and also to have an additional copy of the pictures and documents. We also back up the entire contents of the photo organization program about once per year. We keep a copy and also take one to a relative’s house as extra precaution.

Speaking of making changes, this weekend I had four days off and finally got around to working on the 12×12 heritage albums. My plan for these albums is to take pictures of the current layouts, scan any pictures or memorabilia not already in my photo organization software and then re-do them into 8×8 photobooks. I will print a copy for myself but that way they will also be available for my family to print if they want their own copy.

I currently use Historian & Artisan for my photo management and digital software programs. They are from the same company, Forever, and very user friendly. I am able to upload my own digital content as well as purchase from their website. This will be the first time I have made a complete photobook as opposed to a single page or project. Stay tuned and I will be back with another update on my progress.

As always, thanks for visiting and stop by anytime! You can also follow me on Facebook or Instagram, too!

Machelle

Scrapbooking Small Town

May 19, 2019

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Rolling Cart Organization

by Machelle Willing

Today I’m going to talk a little bit more about organizing, specifically my rolling cart organization. I have found that people seem to either love organizing or hate it. I love it!

My job as a secretary almost demands it, but it also seems to come naturally to me. I’m sure a few of you out there are rolling your eyes at me now!

Unfortunately, the current state of my scrapbook area does not support this claim. It. is. total. chaos and I do not work well or feel creative in chaos. So my goal for next weekend (Memorial Day) is to dive in, clean and do some rearranging.

There are a few things that are working really well in the space, but several that are not. So today I’m going to show you one section that I am very happy with.

This corner sits right behind my table & is where I store a lot of my most used items. I like being able to turn around and just take whatever I need off the shelf or out of the cart quickly & easily.

Rolling Cart Organization

Let’s start with the top shelf. Most of my stamps are Close to My Heart sets that come in the small square envelopes as you can see. I can fit so many of these on just one shelf. I also have a few random stamps from Hobby Lobby and Michael’s to the left. My Kiwi Lane organizer with the border and accessory sets fits right in front.

Then on the middle shelf are my stamp blocks, embossing powders, blending tools and cleaning wipes. There is a small basket of rubber stamps with generic images and a rolling stamp with small phrases.

And finally, on the bottom shelf are small jars that have brads, buttons, small fabric flowers and clear gems.

I found a really cute idea on Pinterest to store ribbon in mason jars with holes drilled into the lid to slide the ribbon through. I also have some stored in Tic Tac containers (also found on Pinterest!) I do think the mason jars work better & will be moving all my ribbon to this type of storage soon.

On the right are 4×6 photo boxes where I store a few cut apart cards and die cuts.

I like the current storage I’m using for my stamp pads so I left them on the bookshelf shown in the first picture.

That holds several items and tools that I reach for frequently. Both of these sit within reach of my chair while I’m scrapping and I have found it to be very convenient which keeps distractions to a minimum. I don’t have to stop in the middle of a project to search for what I want to use next. It also makes it easy to put everything back where it belongs as soon as I’m finished with it.

I hope that this gave you some ideas for your rolling cart organization or inspiration for you to organize some of your most used products and tools.

If you have any questions about my work area or storage, please leave a comment or send me an email. If you have something that works really well, I would love to hear about that, too.

I’m glad you stopped by, please check back soon!

Machelle

Scrapbooking

Cards Organize Stamping

May 12, 2019

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Mother’s Day 2019

by Machelle Willing

Mother’s Day is a wonderful tribute to all the Moms who sacrifice so much every single day of the year to take care of their families.

I grew up knowing my mother, but it was my grandmother who raised me. And believe me, she worked hard.

She had already raised four children. She made the sacrifice of her time, effort and money to make sure that I had everything I needed.

(For a funny story about my grandmother & growing up in a small town, check out my first blog post.)

She’s been gone 17 years now and there are still days when I think to myself, “I should call Maw Maw to tell her that.”

Then there is my mother-in-law, Scott’s mom. Donna raised four boys who all grew up to be perfect gentlemen. We are blessed she is still with us & we had lunch with her today.

Scott & his mom on Mother's day 2019

However, not all women are Mothers and for us that makes this day a rather hard one.

If you go out on Mother’s Day, everyone assumes you need to be told “Happy Mother’s Day.” I have found that to be difficult, because if I tell them I’m not it makes them feel bad or awkward but if I just say “Thank you” then I feel bad. So mostly we just stay home.

While I do not have children, I do have furry kids that rely on me and give me lots of love. Sometimes I feel they are just as much work as children!

George the cat; photo used for Mother's day 2019 blog post. — George

So regardless of your circumstances on this Mother’s day, please take time for yourself and have a peaceful, beautiful Sunday afternoon.

Thank you for stopping by!

Machelle

Family Pets

Cats family stories Huskies

April 28, 2019

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(inter)National Scrapbook Day 2019

by Machelle Willing

Since we are coming up on National Scrapbook Day 2019, I thought I would talk about crops & retreats.

There are lots of differing opinions on Scrapbook Crops. Some people absolutely love them (me!) and some do not, for a variety of reasons.

A few reasons for attending would be to have uninterrupted time to finish a lot of pages or projects, visit with others who love the same hobby or maybe just to have some “me” time away from the responsibilities of home.

Others do not like them because they prefer to scrapbook alone, do not want to have to pack & unpack their supplies or have had a bad experience previously.

Crops can be anywhere from a couple of hours to all day while retreats are 3 to 4 days usually over a weekend.

They can be held in someone’s home, a scrapbook store, hotel or dedicated Bed & Breakfast style house.

Sometimes meals are included or it is pot luck style and sometimes you are on your own.

Machelle scrapbooking at a retreat for blog post (inter) National Scrapbook Day 2019 — Machelle (Me)

My friend Janelle making a scrapbook page at our retreat — Janelle

Janelle & Machelle with our "Scrapbook Money" we won at a scrapbook retreat — With our winnings from all the games

I personally love going to crops and retreats. I get ideas and energy from having others to talk to and seeing what they are working on.

When I am at home, it is too easy to be distracted by all the “should do’s” and “need to’s” but when I am at a retreat there is nothing else I am supposed to be doing except scrapbooking.

(To see which program I use to organize my photos so it’s easy to find them & print them when I’m ready to go to a crop, check out my blog post “Picture Overload.”)

Of course it’s not always possible to find one close to you or the time to go, so a few years ago, I found a great alternative through a group on Facebook.

Online Crops! There are several companies and Facebook groups that do them now and I have tried a couple but the one I like best is Scrapbook Generation.

You get the benefit of cropping with others without having to travel or pack all your supplies! There are games, challenges and Bingo; lots to choose from but you only have to do what interests you.

National Scrapbook Day 2019

It’s always fun and the reason I am bringing this up now is because starting tomorrow they are having a week-long online crop to celebrate National Scrapbook Day 2019 (It’s always the first Saturday in May).

I will be participating and thought I would share the information in case anyone else wanted to join in. You do have to be part of their group page on Facebook, but I think it is worth it.

They also have other challenges and giveaways on the page. Here is a link if you are interested: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sgscrapsquad/.

One of the posts will tell you what to expect and there is a printable schedule of the games and challenges as well. (This is not an affiliate post or anything, I am just really excited to participate next week!)

I am lucky enough to also have a friend that scrapbooks and we try to get together at one of our houses from time to time.

It’s always challenging when we are at my house because I have a furry friend who wants to “help” hold the papers down.

My friend Amie scrapbooking at my house — Amie

My cat, Bo, helping with my scrapbook page — Bo (the helper)

If you haven’t ever been to a crop or retreat, I think you should at least try it once.

No matter where you scrapbook, I hope that you are able to carve out some time to enjoy your hobby next week.

Everyone have a Happy (inter)National Scrapbook Day 2019!

Machelle

Easter Stories

by Machelle Willing

Here in Texas we have had a beautiful sunny Easter Sunday. A great day for family gatherings, egg hunts & too much food. For the kids, Easter is all about the Easter bunny and baskets of eggs filled with candy or sometimes even money. So I thought I would share a few pictures of our family Easter stories.

Little girls with their easter baskets — Jami, Kaci, Dakota, Meagan & Kristina

Kyanne sitting on the Easter Bunny's lap — Kyanne with the Easter Bunny

The two pictures on the left are my cousins children and the one on the right is one of their children with the Easter Bunny. The bottom picture is last Easter’s egg hunt. I love taking pictures and scrapbooking so I can look back and see generations of family getting together for holidays and enjoying time together.

I don’t have any Easter pictures of us when we were kids hunting eggs & I wish I did. We had so much fun! I am an only child, but grew up close to my cousins and we spent a lot of time together. The adults would hide the eggs & we would all do the first egg hunt, but then we would take turns hiding the eggs and finding them again and again. Now we just enjoy catching up since we don’t get together as often.

Gale, Linda, Connie & Me (Machelle)

Last year we decided to let the dogs do an “egg hunt”. We have a lot of dog toys that you can stuff with treats, so my husband took the dogs outside while I scattered them around the living room and then we let the dogs find them. It was cute but took them a while to figure it out.

Of course what Easter is really about is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is a time to reflect on the great blessing of his sacrifice.

He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: “The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.”

Luke 24 : 6-7 (NIV)

I hope that you have had a day filled with faith, family & fun and don’t forget to tell your Easter stories, too!

Machelle

Family Pets

family stories Huskies

April 15, 2019

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Too Many Scrapbooking Supplies

by Machelle Willing

Scrapbooking Supplies – Paper Edition

Today, I am going to talk about scrapbooking supplies. How many of us have too much stuff? Now I do not think this is news to anyone, but if you are struggling to make what should be simple decisions, maybe the problem is there are too many choices. I know this is definitely true for me.

Sometimes I think back to when I first started scrapbooking and all my supplies fit into one rolling tote. I scrapbooked at my dining room table and would just put everything away when I was done. Now I take up half of our home office, LOL!

My biggest problem is paper. When I start a scrapbook layout I always start with the pictures and then I pick the background paper. Lately, I have been having trouble with this step and I get frustrated, sometimes it takes me 30 minutes to an hour just to pick paper! It drains my creativity and takes some of the fun out of my scrapbooking time. So I have decided that restricting my choices in the first place might help speed up this part of the process.

Scrapbooking supplies; rolling tote & paper holders — Paper totes & rolling card

Scrapbooking supplies; inside of paper tote - patterned paper & cardstock — Inside: hanging files, individual sheets & paper pads

Now, if you talk about scrapbooking supplies you have to talk about storage. I currently have three paper totes that I got from Michaels (in the pictures above) and I still have paper stashed in a couple of other places as well. My goal is to use what I have until it all fits in two totes, get rid of the third and restrict myself to that amount of storage space.

I have tried other paper storage solutions and I have decided that vertical storage works best for me. The paper is in smaller dividers within each tote and each divider is a specific category. I have some paper by manufacturer, some by theme and the rest by color. With it upright, it is easier to flip through and I know which folder to grab when I’m looking for something specific like Christmas, birthday or if I’m looking for something blue.

I think this will keep me from being paralyzed by too many choices, make decisions faster and easier and then I will have more time to play with all the other pretty things I have. (Here is a blog post about my rolling cart storage that is working well.)

Scrapbooking supplies; paper scraps in Creative Memories dividers — 6×12 envelopes full of different sized scraps

I store my scraps by color in these older Creative Memories Deco files. I really like this solution as well since I can just grab the color I want & flip through until I find the right size/hue of that particular color for my project. I am also a very visual person, so I like see through storage that I can see at a glance.

I think that making kits out of your stash is also a good idea to limit your choices. I am a fan of the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog and love to see all the different ways each member interprets the monthly kit. You can choose how much or how little to add to your kit. This could be determined by your project or how much of your scrapbooking supplies you want to use up that month. I will have more on that later as well.

Although it is nice to have options, I personally think that there are times if you have too many to choose from it can hinder your creativity and enjoyment of the hobby. Leave me a comment and tell me how you store your scrapbook paper and if you are ever overwhelmed with too much. Let me know if you have any other suggestions for dealing with your scrapbooking supplies.

Thanks for stopping by!

Machelle

Scrapbooking

Organize Products

April 8, 2019

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“the rest of the story” with Texas Husky Rescue

by Machelle Willing

For the first part of this story, see my post on Texas Snow Dogs.

Picture of a black & white siberian husky puppy named Jellybean from Texas Husky Resue — Haley aka Jellybean

We got Maverick from a breeder when he was 8 weeks old. When he turned one, we started talking about getting another husky so he would have company during the day and someone to play with other than us. We asked some other people their opinions on having two dogs and the majority said definitely, two are better than one.

We decided to see if there were any husky rescues in our area. That’s when we found Texas Husky Rescue. They have a website where you can look at all the current dogs available for adoption ( www.texashuskyrescue.org ). We decided that fostering would be a good way to see if we could handle two and find a good fit as well. They saved a dog that had been dumped just before she had puppies. These puppies were born in March, right before Easter, so their temporary names related to the holiday. When they were old enough they were added to the adoptable page. By the time we heard about “Jellybean” she had already been adopted. So we kept fostering while we looked for just the right dog.

Fast forward a few months and we were looking at the website again when we saw “Jellybean” again as available. We immediately called Claudia, one of the contacts we had made at the rescue, to ask about her. She had been adopted and returned 3 times! Just for being a puppy. Ya’ll know about puppies, right? Puppy nipping, potty training, chewing & learning about crates. It’s a lot of work. So when we called she already had someone else interested as well, so we told Claudia to put us next on the list because we felt like she was the one. A few days later we got a call that we could go get her and foster her until we decided for sure. It didn’t take us long to make the decision and “Jellybean” became Haley.

Black & white siberian husky puppy; Haley

Next time we’ll talk some more about scrapbooking, be sure to drop back by!

Machelle

Pets

Huskies

April 7, 2019

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Texas Siberian Huskies

by Machelle Willing

Let’s talk about Siberian Huskies or Snow Dogs as some people call them. They are beautiful, fun, full of personality and a little bit crazy. Those are some of the ways I describe ours. What people notice first is how beautiful they are, but if you are around them for very long you will discover their true personality. All pets have their own quirks and preferences but husky lovers know that they are a breed apart, unlike any other dog you have ever owned.

This is Bear, he was our first husky. As a general rule they are very friendly dogs and not particularly possessive or aggressive. Bear was an exception to this rule; he was very territorial over his yard and us with everyone except one of my cousins and her kids. He loved Kristina and we never had to worry about them together.

Siberian Husky with little girl in the backyard — Bear & Kristina

The next husky we got was Bandit. Unfortunately, he had an issue come up when he was only 8 months old where he became unable to control the lower half of his body. In two weeks time, he went from playful puppy to not being able to walk or control his bladder function. We had to put him to sleep and it was definitely the hardest thing I’ve had to do in my life. He was an exceptionally good dog.

Black & white Siberian Husky puppy — Bandit at 8 weeks

Black & white siberian husky dog — Bandit at 8 months

Currently we have two Siberian Huskies, Maverick & Haley. This is the first time we have had two huskies at the same time and it is not for the faint of heart. We are in the middle of a snowstorm in Texas with all the shedding happening at our house here at the beginning of April! But I will also tell you it is worth it. Even when they are being the most crazy, they will make you smile. They are extremely loving and loyal and if you’re lucky they will “talk” to you, too!

Black & white siberian husky puppy; Maverick — Maverick at 8 weeks

Black & white siberian husky puppy; Haley — Haley as a puppy

Siberian Huskies; Maverick & Haley — Haley & Maverick – Best buds!

Another unique feature of Siberian Huskies are their eyes. They can have blue eyes, hazel, green or brown. Sometimes they even have more than one color. Maverick and Haley both have one brown & one blue eye, which is called bi-eyed. Their coats can be different colors, too.

You can read about “the rest of the story” in the next post where I share a little more about Haley and a group of special people who #SaveMoreHuskies.

Machelle

Pets

Huskies

April 1, 2019

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Contemplating Scrapbook Album Sizes

by Machelle Willing

Several scrapbook albums in various sizes — Examples of Different Scrapbook Album Sizes

There are quite a few album sizes, but the main one most scrapbookers start with is 12×12. I also started scrapbooking almost 20 years ago with Creative Memories and there weren’t as many choices.

So that is how I ended up with my scrapbooks in a state of confusion. Why confusion? Well, mainly because I have recently moved. If you have ever moved you know the tedious task of packing box after box of all your possessions. For me, this meant several boxes of very heavy 12×12 albums that were transported in my vehicle because I did not want the on the moving van.

This made me start thinking about what I want out of my scrapbooks and why I make them.

Think about your why:

Why do you scrapbook? For some people it is for telling everyday family stories or documenting your children’s milestone moments. Sometimes it is just for a creative outlet or some “me” time. Taking time to decide if you are leaving a legacy or simply making pretty pages might help you decide what size works for you or a particular project.

My husband and I do not have children, so my books are just for me or any extended family that might want them someday. Since moving, I have concluded that I do not want as many 12×12 albums because they are so big & bulky we do not look at them very often and I definitely do not want to move them again. This has led me to look at other options for scrapbook album sizes and what I want my scrapbooks to look like for me. They need to be smaller & possibly just less of them.

I have also decided that I like “projects”. Books that have a specific beginning and end, which sometimes means smaller and faster to complete. I have previously made graduation albums and wedding albums for family members and I really enjoy these types of books.

Starting Over:

Over the years, I have scrapbooked many pages of extended family events; school activities, sports and birthdays. All of this has made me realize that I need to “let go” of some pages of other family members and events specific to them, so I will divide those pages into new albums to give as gifts.

I have already started re-doing some of the older 12×12 albums into theme specific 8×8’s that will be more story focused. I also like the 6×8 size and am thinking of transferring some of the 12×12 pages into a digital format to make photobooks as well. Of course this will be a time consuming process since I have over 15 full size albums to redo.

Here is an example of what that looks like for me. I went from two 12×12 pages (top) to four 8×8 pages, but I like them much better.

12 x 12 Scrapbook page about the Oklahoma City Memorial created by Small Town Scrap

8x8 Scrapbook page of the "Last Trail" statue in theNational Cowboy Museum in Oklahoma City made by Small Town Scrap

8x8 Travel Scrapbook layout of Oklahoma City Memorial Chairs

One Size Does Not Fit All:

Don’t be afraid to just start over or change your format. That does NOT mean you have to take everything apart like I am doing. For you, it could mean just starting now. There are times and seasons for different projects, so if you are feeling overwhelmed or unmotivated try changing things up. Do a mini-book or make a photobook online. Try digital scrapbooking. If you try something & don’t like it, you can always go back to the way you were doing it before.

Also, different scrapbook album sizes work better for different projects. Maybe you want to document a special vacation or event that doesn’t need a 12×12 book. Or maybe you just want to make a little book with some Instagram photos. There are 4×4 albums or you could even make your own. There are just so many options!

Stay Tuned:

I will definitely be sharing this transition and my thoughts about different scrapbook album sizes for certain projects. Please leave a comment and let me know if you have any questions or you can always message me on the Contact Page.

Until next time,

Machelle

Edit: Go check out this post for the 2nd half of my Scrapbook Overhaul.

Scrapbooking

Albums Digital Traditional

Making changes (part 2)

Making changes

Rolling Cart Organization

Rolling Cart Organization

Mother’s Day 2019

(inter)National Scrapbook Day 2019

National Scrapbook Day 2019

Easter Stories

Too Many Scrapbooking Supplies

Scrapbooking Supplies – Paper Edition

“the rest of the story” with Texas Husky Rescue

Fun facts:

Texas Siberian Huskies

Contemplating Scrapbook Album Sizes

Think about your why:

Starting Over:

One Size Does Not Fit All:

Stay Tuned:

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