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

On the hunt

Kyanne sitting on the Easter Bunny's lap

Kyanne with the Easter Bunny

 

Cooper, Kyanne & Kaylen

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.

Haley

Maverick

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 risen!

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

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

 

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

As you can tell from the picture below, Maverick welcomed Haley and they are great friends. Now we also have two cats who aren’t as happy about the situation! Huskies do need to be raised around cats or watched closely to make sure they don’t hurt them as they have a high prey drive. We love Haley and are so glad we decided to adopt from a rescue group whose moto is #SaveMoreHuskies!

Fun facts:

Maverick & Haley have the same birthday, March 20th, one year apart.

They each have one blue eye & one brown eye – on opposite sides.

They tend to lie in the same position when they are sleeping.

Dogs sleeping in the same position

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

Machelle

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.

Siberian Husky; black & white

Bear

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

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
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.