:QUOTES: Summer according to Stevens and Longfellow

Wallace Stevens

"The summer night is like a perfection of thought."

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"Then followed that beautiful season...summer....filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood."

:QUOTES: Alcott, Edelman, Unknown

Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888), novelist

“Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.”

Marian Wright Edelman

"You're not obligated to win. You're obligated to keep trying to do the best you can every day."

Unknown

"You are the author of your life's adventure. Weave your tales of wonder, save a place to dream, and believe in your brave heart."

Quotes to ponder...

Harvey S. Firestone:

"Accept no one's definition of your life, but define yourself."

e.e. cummings:

“We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit.”

Greta Garbo:

"Every one of us lives this life just once; if we are honest, to live once is enough."

Quotes to ponder...

Mary Anne Radmacher, author:

“Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Appreciate your friends. Continue to learn. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is.”

Langston Hughes:

"Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly."

Ella Jane Fitzgerald (1917-1996), jazz vocalist:

“Just don't give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there's love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong.”

Teaching my first scrapbooking class...

wasn't as scary as I thought it was going to be. Last night was my very first class over at RTEC and I can already tell that I'm going to be a little sad when the 3-night course is over.

There are eight wonderful gals in the class and all of them are pretty new to the hobby of scrapbooking and they are just a ton of fun!!

Last night, we covered some basics in the areas of 'Why scrapbook?', 'Tools', 'Organization', and 'Design'. I tried to show lots of own layouts as examples so that they could 'see' what I was talking about and even showed them pictures of my own scrapbooking space and how I organize my supplies...if you can call it organizing! :-)

If I'm feeling really brave, I might even share some of those pictures here soon.

The 'lecture' portion took about an hour and then we got to the FUN part...creating!! They got the Pebbles Make a Wish Kit as part of their class fee for the night and some used that to create their layouts and others used items they had brought that better suited their photos.

I basically then just went from table to table answering questions, offering advice, and showing them some of the little 'tricks' that I've picked up along the way.

I had to laugh at them all a little because some of them were so concerned with everything being 'perfect' and 'just so' and I TOTALLY remember being there when starting this craft! Heck, sometimes, I'm even that way once in a while now.

Then, today, I ran across this quote (and you all know that I LOVE quotes):

“That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not that the task itself has become easier, but that our ability to perform it has improved.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), essayist, poet, philosopher

As with any interest or hobby, it takes time and practice to get to a place where you feel comfortable enough with your talent to let go of some of these insecurities. "Do these colors match perfectly?" "Ugh, I should have put that flower over here instead of there!"

Often, I've found that some of the layouts when I allowed myself to EXPERIMENT and NOT be concerned with 'perfection' end up being my favorites.

Hopefully, some of these ladies will experience at least of moment or two of this feeling during our short little course.

I think they all enjoyed themselves...I know I did! I can't wait for next week and I will take my camera this time - I didn't want to freak them all out by snapping tons of pictures on the vary first night.

Their photo reprieve is over! :-)

Next week we will be covering the topics of color theory, titles and journaling, the crafting process and a little bit about all the various 'styles' of scrapbooking.

Quote and a link...

John Lubbock:

"What we see depends mainly on what we look for."

I really like this quote and it totally reminded me of a great post that I read on the Speak Up blog the other day:

Pay Attention and Give a Shit

This blog focuses on issues of design and I've found a lot of things here that I've been inspired by and adapted for use in my scrapbooking.

This point resonated with me on a much deeper level...it could be adapted to so many aspects of daily life.

Quotes to Ponder

Dr. Seuss:

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who'll decide where to go."

Walt Disney:

"When you are curious you find lots of interesting things to do."

Confucius:

"Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart."

Quotes for Spring

In honor of the first day of Spring, here's some spring quotes that I've come across recently that I really like.

Kahlil Gibram

"Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to
play with your hair."

Hans Christian Anderson

"Just living is not enough...One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little
flower."

e.e. cummings

"The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful."

I can't say that we've quite yet hit full-fledged Spring yet here in South Dakota, but it's getting closer...thank goodness!!

Quotes to ponder...

Here's a few that I've been collecting for when I need a little something on a layout for Kaitlin.

Anonymous:

"Childhood is the most beautiful of all life's seasons."

Shel Silverstein:

"Listen to the mustn'ts, child.
Listen to the don'ts.
Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts.
Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me...
Anything can happen, child.
Anything can be."

John Lubbock:

"The important thing is not so much that every child should be taught, as that every child should be given the wish to learn."

Quotes for Valentine's Day

HELEN ROWLAND:

"Falling in love consists merely in uncorking the imagination and bottling the common-sense."

MOTHER THERESA:

“We can do no great things - only small things with great love.”

UNKNOWN:

"We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love."

MIGNON MCLAUGHLIN (The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1966):

"Love unlocks doors and opens windows that weren't even there
before."

A little wisdom from John Lubbock...

Here's a recent favorite quote:

"The important thing is not so much that every child should be taught, as that every child should be given the wish to learn."
— John Lubbock

I love quotes...if you do too, you might want to sign up for these:
Real Simple's Daily Thought
The Foundation for a Better Life Daily Quote
My Daily Insights

Quotes for Christmas...

Several serious...

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.
~Norman Vincent Peale

Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love! ~Hamilton Wright Mabie

May the spirit of Christmas bring you peace,
The gladness of Christmas give you hope,
The warmth of Christmas grant you love.
~Author Unknown

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.
~Dr. Seuss

and a couple just for fun...

There's nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child. ~Erma Bombeck, I Lost Everything in the Post-Natal Depression

Once again we find ourselves enmeshed in the Holiday Season, that very special time of year when we join with our loved ones in sharing centuries-old traditions such as trying to find a parking space at the mall. We traditionally do this in my family by driving around the parking lot until we see a shopper emerge from the mall, then we follow her, in very much the same spirit as the Three Wise Men, who 2,000 years ago followed a star, week after week, until it led them to a parking space.
~Dave Barry

The Sprague Lab: Blog of Note and a Quote

I love Jessica Sprague! Not only is she an incredibly talented hybrid scrapbooker, but also an incredibly generous teacher! She is always providing a host a great tutorials through her blog, The Sprague Lab, and sharing interesting bits and pieces of her life.

She recently completed a redesign of her blog, which is GREAT by the way, and included this quote in her header:

"Time stands still best in moments that look suspiciously like ordinary life."
~Brian Andreas

It is definitely one of my new favorites!!

Quotes for Thanksgiving...

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Some serious:

"We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures."
~Thornton Wilder

“Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts.”
~ Henri Frederic Amiel (1821-1881), philosopher, poet, critic

"Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds."
~Theodore Roosevelt

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow."
~Melody Beattie

And one just for fun:

"Thanksgiving, man. Not a good day to be my pants."
~Kevin James

I just love Kevin James! :-)

Life Wisdom from Marie Curie, Anna Freud and Joseph Addison

I LOVE quotes...a few I've collected lately:

“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.”
—Marie Curie (1867-1934), double Nobel laureate (physics and chemistry)

“I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence but it comes from within. It is there all the time.”
—Anna Freud (1895-1982), founder of child psychoanalysis

“The great essentials for happiness in this life are something to do, something to love and something to hope for.”
—Joseph Addison (1672-1719), essayist, poet, publisher

Quotes on Creativity...Wisdom from Kermit the Frog

Here are a couple quotes on creativity that I found recently that I really like:

“Creativity is the power to connect the seemingly unconnected.”
William Plomer

In scrapbooking, aren't we always searching for ways to discover new ways to express our creativity, developing new products or find creative new uses for old ones?

“When you’re trying to stay creative, too many rules can drive you loopy. Improvise. Let loose! Because, after all, you can’t amaze the world until you first surprise yourself.”
Kermit the Frog

What scrapbooking 'rules' have you broken lately with results you love?

SSFS #24 - Quotes: Related to Scrapbooking

I love to collect quotes and use them in my scrapbooking when I'm at a loss for words or just want a little 'something' to enhance the journaling already on a page. I've even been known to use a quote as a page title before.

These are a few quotes that I've come across lately that really appealed to me in the way that they relate to scrapbooking (and photography also, really).

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
Albert Einstein

This quote made me laugh when I first read it! Isn't this so true...people are pressured to come up with best and brightest ideas/concepts/products every day...but how many of them are 'truly' original? If scrappers are honest, I believe most would have to admit that they glean a great deal of inspiration from other scrappers...and most have done at least one scrap lift or two. In most situations, people often seem to want to hide their 'sources' and take credit for themselves. However, scrapper's tend to be a bit of a different breed in this respect (IMO). They openly share their work, their sources, and encourage others to take inspiration from it.

"Imagination and fiction make up more than three-quarters of our real life."
Simone Weil

This one is just thought provoking to me...how much of what we portray through our scrapbooking (or photography) is 'real'? For example, if you were to look through the scrapbooks I've created for my daughter, you would think that she's a perfect angel. She is, sometimes, but she's certainly had her share of 'moments'. However, as of yet, no many, if any, of those 'moments' have made it into her scrapbook. I guess that the last thing I think of doing when she's slamming doors and yelling, "FINE!" at the top of her lungs is grabbing my camera. I should work on that. After all, she deserves to be reminded of those moments when she's older, right? Like when she has a child of her own slamming doors! :-)

"We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospection."
Anais Nin

To me, this one sums up the entire reason why we scrapbook...and why we take pictures in the first place. Isn't it so that we can remember the people/events/moments in our lives that shaped us? And isn't it interesting that often the thought or emotion that we had 'in the moment' can often be so different than the one we have 'in retrospection'. I often take Kaitlin out 'just to get some good pictures to scrap' and then when prints come back to me, they can bring out so many deeper emotions like how precious she is to me, how quickly she is becoming a girl and no longer my baby, and fear and excitement all at the same time in imagining what her future may bring.

What thoughts/ideas do these quotes bring to mind for you with respect to your scrapbooking? Do you have others quotes that you have come across that have made you stop and think along these lines? Please share!

Sunday Spur for Scrapbookers #14 - Quotes on Creativity

There are so many different views of creativity.

I read a book not too long again called Caffeine for the Creative Mind: 250 Exercises to Wake Up Your Brain. It included interviews with several successful designers and several shared their take on creativity.

“You are a creative. ‘What’s a creative?” you ask. In its purest form, a ‘creative’ is anyone who creates. Anything. If you make something, you are a creative.” from the Introduction of ‘Caffeine for the Creative Mind’ by Stefan Mumaw and Wendy Lee Oldfield

“Creativity, to me, is the ability to have the eyes of a child-eyes of wonder, eyes of possibility-throughout your entire life. And then be able to use that creative insight or vision or ability to see things, to solve problems or to affect something for a more positive outcome.” Kevin Carroll

“Creativity means producing something original which has value to others because it makes them laugh, cry or think.” Brian Sack

“Animation and illustration deal heavily in story. Animation tells a story across a linear timeline, while illustration implies a story by offer a view of a single moment in time. Of the two, implying a story with that single image is much more challenging and rewarding when you get it right. It also allows more participation from the
viewer, since a single image can be interpreted in many ways.” Mike Dietz

“Creativity, by definition, is simply the ability to create. But what we’re really talking about is expressing ourselves through original thoughts and ideas, arriving at unique solutions to problems by approaching those problems in fresh, unexpected ways. Creativity, and how to harness it, is an elusive subject. It comes from deep inside you and is molded by the sum of your life experiences, so the process is very personal and unique. It resides most powerfully in our subconscious, which means to best tap into it we have to relinquish conscious control over the process-something some people have a difficult time with. You have to trust the process, let it come to you. Just make sure you have a pencil and paper nearby, because sometimes the best ideas can be the most fleeting.” Mike Dietz

“You have to make boundaries. You have to make decisions about what you do and don’t do, you have to know what balance means to you. To some people, a balanced life means working twenty hours a week and playing twenty hours a week. Some people have families, some people have children, so it’s all a matter of priorities and have the time you want to allocate to each activity in your life. Setting boundaries on things is really important-boundaries like how often you check your email, how late you work, what time you stop answering the phone, what days you work or don’t work, how many vacations you take a year, what you do to cultivate your creativity,
what do you do to recharge and inspire yourself.” Peleg Top on the freeing power of boundaries in balance

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist when you grow up.” Pablo Picasso (He wasn't interviewed, obviously, but this quote was included in the book as well.)

So, which is your favorite quote on creativity. Or, do you know of another quote on creativity that really speaks to you? You could even take your favorite quote on creativity and use it on a layout about your craft. Either way, let us know in a comment here.

A quote to ponder...

Came across this African proverb the other day in a piece that I had to read for work about the Catholic Tradition...

"I am because you are."

This really struck a cord with me. I am not sure exactly what the literal African meaning is, so might have to do some research on that.

I am interested on how others might interpret this quote, especially mothers (or fathers). Let me know what you think...

Spring is coming...

Boy, I haven't been posting much lately. Had a couple really crazy weeks and it's just taking more a bit to 'snap back', I think. I've been feeling very unmotivated about everything it seems lately.

But, this morning, Kaitlin and I came outside to leave for school/work and it smelled like spring. It was cool, but not cold, and there was just a hint of rain in the air. I love that smell...first time I've smelled it this year, I think, and it spruced me up a bit. I've been feeling a little better today - definitely ready for spring.

With that said, here's a quote to ponder about spring:

"Expect to have hope rekindled. Expect your prayers to be answered in wondrous ways. The dry seasons in life do not last. The spring rains will come again.”
Sarah Ban Breathnach

I read this and realized I've been 'down' about a lot of things lately...all the illness and death around us, stresses at home and work...I haven't even felt like scrapping for quite a while. But, really, there is so much to be thankful for and I have to make myself remember that. And for the things that aren't 'perfect'...well, I just have to remind myself that 'dry seasons' don't last forever.