Porch Ramblings

by Machelle Willingon January 2, 2021May 22, 2025

One Little Word 2021 - Create

My Word of the Year 2021

How many of you choose a word for the year? I have been doing this for 7 or 8 years after learning about it through Ali Edwards blog. I have only taken the class once but love having a word to focus on through the year. For me it’s a general concept, not a specific goal or resolution that can be broken or not obtained. It’s just to think about and keep in mind what you want your next year to look like. If you want to document your word, you could make a scrapbook or use a journal. I am going to use my planner. There is a spot in the front for a vision board & I intend to use my word as the focal point of the page.

My word of the year for 2021 is Create. According to Merriam-Webster it means: to produce or bring about by a course of action or behavior; or to produce (something new, such as a work of art) by using your talents and imagination. Having recently moved & in the middle of a remodeling project this really speaks to me right now.

First I need to create new routines. This would be to bring about by action or behavior. We downsized when we moved, my husband changed jobs & I am now working from home. As I’m sure a lot of you know, working from home especially requires a routine! Is this something that you have struggled with recently? The mornings are a whirlwind of feeding pets while trying to get myself ready for the day. Everything I do is through email (no conference calls) so I have decided make-up is not a necessity these days. What have you changed that has helped you with your routine or what still needs some work?

I am creating an organized, cozy new home. One of the first things that needed to be organized was turning our front bedroom into an office/scrapbooking room. It is a small room but has a nice sized closet so we will be adding shelving in there to hold home files, office supplies and some of my papercrafting supplies that I don’t use as much. One side of the room will be for my work desk and the other for our home computer and crafting area. We also downsized our living room furniture and have a nice open concept living/dining/kitchen. Painting and some new wall art are on the list of things we want to do in this area.

I also want to create using my (limited) talents and imagination. I have not been crafting on a regular basis this past year and am looking forward to starting several projects that I’ve had on my mind for a while now. In addition to working on my ongoing scrapbook categories and cards, I want to make a special First Year book for a family member’s son and a custom photobook of my ancestors. How many of you can relate to having too many ideas and not enough time?

I also want to create a feeling of community here on the blog. I want everyone to feel welcome, like neighbors who stop by for an afternoon chat. Any questions or suggestions are welcome.

All of these will help me create a happy life. Having routines and organization make me feel more productive and a cozy home makes me calm & relaxed. My creative hobbies energize me and giving homemade cards and gifts to family and friends makes me happy.

I would love to know what your word is & why you chose it. Leave me a comment or send an email and let’s talk!

Thank you for stopping by!

Machelle

by Machelle Willingon November 29, 2020March 10, 2025

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**This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase from clicking these links, I will make a small commission. Please know I only recommend products or companies that I personally use and love. You may read my full disclosure here.**

I think I may be the only one holding out this year until after Thanksgiving to even start thinking about Christmas. It seems like everyone has their trees up & lights on the house already. Well, we are working on the tree & I will post pictures soon, but in the meantime I have been working on a gift for my mother-in-law.

I wanted to make a short video to show you how easy it is to make FOREVER photo gifts. Today I’m going to be making a coffee mug. Choosing the pictures you want to use is definitely the hardest part! Click on the video and if you have any questions, please let me know!

FOREVER photo gifts are just the beginning. You can also make digital photo albums, calendars, ornaments or notebooks. Of course, they are known for their online storage with a lifetime guarantee. I would love to help you organize, save and share your photos in a way that works for you. To get your free account and $20 Welcome coupon, you can sign up through my Small Town Scrap Refer a Friend link.

Forever Print Projects; FOREVER Products, Design & Print

Let me know if you would like a one on one consultation & please be sure to leave me a comment or send an email and let me know if this was helpful.

Until next time,

Machelle

Family

by Machelle Willingon November 7, 2020May 22, 2025

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Hello again! Today’s post is going to be a little different from my normal scrapbooking chats. Today I’m going to tell you a little more about me in case there are others currently struggling with multiple health issues and maybe feeling a little lost.

I know a lot has been said about the year 2020 and while it has been quite a year for everyone, there have been many changes in my life that I never saw coming. Late last year, I ended up in an Emergency Clinic because I was having chest pains. I knew I was under a lot of stress and kept telling myself it was anxiety; however, I just didn’t want to take a chance any longer that it could be something else. Well, it turns out there wasn’t anything wrong with my heart – but my sodium level was critically low. The doctor wanted to admit me to the hospital but after arrangements were made for me to see a specialist the next day, he agreed to let me go home.

That began a series of appointments with several different doctors & in the middle of all that – we moved. Not just down the street but halfway across the state. So I basically had to start over with all new doctors and it took some time to get those initial appointments.

Fast forward to March of 2020 and I had been having blood work done routinely for a couple of months. After one lab, before I could make it home, I got a phone call to turn around immediately and go to the nearest hospital. My sodium level was 116, which is considered critically low. I ended up staying in the hospital for 4 days while they got it stabilized. Now, I know that probably doesn’t sound like a huge deal, but I had made it to 50 without ever being in the hospital – for anything. I have never had a broken bone, still have my tonsils & I do not have children. I only ever had one IV up until that point. I was released from the hospital about 2 weeks before the COVID lockdown.

Since then, I have also been through 2 MRIs and a Liver Biopsy. After years of not having any health issues that I knew of, I now have a laundry list of diagnoses. The main one is a Prolactinoma (tumor of the pituitary gland) that is pressing on my optic nerve. Your pituitary gland controls your sodium and thyroid levels as well as several other important functions. I am currently taking medication to help lower my Prolactin level and (hopefully) shrink the tumor. In the meantime I have had consultations with a neurosurgeon and ophthalmologist to monitor it’s impact.

In addition to that, I have Hereditary Hemochromatosis, which is a high iron content in my blood that can seep into your organs. After almost a year, my iron level is within a normal range but the doctor still wants it to be below normal so it does not just build up again. There are a couple of options for controlling this, but I have found that diet has made the biggest difference. Unfortunately, this means I can only eat red meat very rarely. And believe me I love a good steak!

I am thankful that through all of these challenges I haven’t felt too bad; mostly dizzy and having headaches almost daily. It has made it hard to concentrate so at the end of my work day I am pretty wiped out and find it hard to focus on my hobbies. Now that some of my blood levels are in the normal ranges I am hoping to get back to creating and enjoying the upcoming holidays.

If you have health issues or are just going through changes in your life that are out of your control, please know that you are not alone. I sympathize with you and if you need a sounding board or just want to vent feel free to email me or comment if you want to share. I would also love to know if you document these types of struggles in some way – through scrapbooking, journaling, etc. I usually do not; however, this has been such a change that I am thinking it is a story that needs to be told.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Machelle

Blog News

by Machelle Willingon October 25, 2020May 22, 2025

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Who doesn’t love free stuff? I created these free Fall wallpapers/printables in Forever Artisan as a gift to you from Small Town Scrap.

I hope you are enjoying our visits as much as I am. My goal is to make a set of freebies that change with the seasons/holidays.

Fall freebies is the first set in the series. Just click here to download the bundle. Free Fall Wallpapers preview; includes I Love Fall Most of All with autumn tree background, Trick or Treat Halloween with pumpkin & candy corn & Thankful #Blessed with cornucopia

If you would like to learn more about how you can make digital pages using Artisan, click here to visit the Forever website through my Refer A Friend link or send me a message.

Look forward to seeing you again soon,

Machelle

Edited: If you would like more information on another source I use a lot for my digital content, check out this blog post about Digital Scrapbooking.

Family Scrapbooking

by Machelle Willingon October 22, 2020March 10, 2025

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Welcome back! Even though life has been busy, I managed to make a couple of layouts with my October 2020 CKC Kit “Memories of Home.” I am happy to have recorded more family stories to go along with the pictures. In the past I was only journaling the basics of “who, what, when & where.” Recently, I have been trying to write down the stories we tell when we are all together and may not be obvious from just the pictures.

Do you have those “remember when” stories that pop up when your family is together? Journaling does not come naturally to me, so this is something I am constantly working on. What are some prompts that you use to tell a story or start your journaling?

8x8 Scrapbook layout with woodgrain background paper, golden yellow & maroon mats, No Place Like Home sticker & enamel dots

8x8 Scrapbook layout of our first home; blue patterned paper background with accents of golden yellow & maroon with a journaling box

This 8×8 double page layout is about our first house as a married couple. After looking at quite a few houses that did not meet our expectations, we found this one & fell in love with it immediately.

When we went to put a contract on the house, we found out through the Seller’s Disclosure that it was next door to a bomb factory! You see, the house was outside the city limits and there was a huge field behind it. Somewhere in that field there was a bunker where they tested hand grenades, so every once in a while a siren would go off and then you would hear a muffled pop.

If you were in the house you could only faintly hear the siren. It never bothered us in the least and we lived there for six years. Now that is definitely not your average new home story!

October 2020 CKC Monthly Challenge #2

The next 8×8 layout is about my grandmother and something she always said to me growing up. Anytime I would go somewhere, she would tell me to “act pretty.” She wanted me to look nice but to ACT nicer.

I grew up to respect others and in today’s words Be Kind. She always wanted me to be respectful and friendly to everyone, no matter who they were. She knew it was better to be pretty on the inside.

This is something I still try to be mindful of today. I don’t like it when people look down on others because of their current circumstances or things beyond their control.

8x8 Scrapbook layout of something my grandmother always said; green patterned background paper, flower die-cut and a journaling card with hearts

8x8 Scrapbook layout of my grandmother; background paper brown with polka dots, 3x4 card from Simple Stories of a mason jar with flowers, enamel dots and a Lifetime of Memories sticker

This double page layout was for the October 2020 CKC’s Monthly Challenge #2 – Trick or Treat. The second challenge this month was to pick three Tricks (something a little tricky to use) or Treats (something that you love to use) or if you wanted to combine Tricks and Treats then you needed to pick five from the list and incorporate onto your layout. Here were the lists:

Trick TreatHand Stitching FlowersEyelets Enamel DotsGlitter RainbowsFringing StencilsMixed Media StripesDoodling HeartsRub-ons Woodgrain

So for the pages above I actually only managed to use four Treats – Flowers, Enamel Dots, Hearts & Woodgrain. I have enjoyed being the Guest Designer for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog this month & still have some of my kit left to work with. I am hoping to make some cards as well, so please be sure to check back in for that. Let me know if you played along with the October 2020 CKC and what were your Trick or Treats?

Looking forward to visiting again soon!

Machelle

UPDATE: Since this post I have put together a handout with 3 story starter ideas to help you look for stories that might not be immediately obvious from your pictures. You can check that out and download a copy from my post in March, 2022.