Magic Monday

this monday i have a list over small things that meant magic to me; 

* i had the experience of amazing energy last tuesday. some of you know already that i suffer from depression and anxiety and that my energy level is the one thing that always is low. but i actually stopped and thought about how energetic i felt even though i had extra things both monday and tuesday and that usually makes me even more tired. it was pure magic.

* i got a few extra special emails last week that made me feel so good about myself, them and the world in general.

sunsets like these.

and living in a place on earth where the traffic stops regularly for these guys :) 

have you experienced magic lately?

Project life | week 4

here is my 4th week of project life.

as you can see from my spread i have a few extra pages this week; two actually. 

i backed my inserts with some yummy new papers. the first two slots are backed with Studio Calico Flower bed paper. i read a really good short article in a magazine late sunday night last week and cut it out right away and added it to my first page. 

the foam thickers are from American Crafts called Custard (the link goes to the white version) and the smile tag is from a Cocoa Daisy kit . i journaled about my monday at a computer meeting for work to the left and backed my journaling card and instgram photo on a Amy Tangerine patterned paper called Scatter Sunshine.

i got a haircut on tuesday and sneaked a photo there too :) the journaling is written on a piece of Sassafras paper called Sweetly smitten. 

here is my first extra page which is a free download from ali edwards for her week in the life project. i printed the page for tuesday and filled in what i did during the day. 

(if anyone spots the typo, i saw it now!)

as i was fast asleep during the last times there, i added a filler card from the clementine edition sold at jessicasprauge.com. 

the second insert is a page protector that had 8 smaller slots that i trimmed down to 4. i added a few more of the journaling cards i bought at lilypad which i love! and also a free digital kit from erica hernandez that i downloaded from 2peas. 

again i used different cards from the Clementine edition and the Lilypad. 

i got a suprise package from cocoa daisy this week and wanted to include the cute tag and business card they included. 

i took a screenshot of my pinterest at one point this week and just added it in there too. 

the right upper slot is about how cold it has been this week.

and the last slot is featuring midnight in paris that i saw saturday night. 

there you have it, my 4th week!

from pin to reality ~ epic fail

i thought i´d amuse you all with a from pin to reality project that failed. yes, they do that from time to time, don´t they! 

link 

ok, so i set out to make the fairly simple craft of crayon hearts. it is a craft that i have wanted to do forever. 

ok, so if i had the photo from pinterest infront of me while setting out to do this, i would have NOT shaved the crayons for crying out loud! it stuck to everything and i even got a blister from the knife ;)

you see the mess, right? anyway, i did this pan and another one in plastic that you can spot in the first photo. 

yup! not oven safe. hehe...

the shattered hearts are from the above photo and the others are from the other pan, which are ok i guess but not thick enough to be worth the work really...:(

if i do make this craft again i am just chopping the wax crayons up and maybe use a deeper pan :)

Re-scrap 2012 | january

january is coming to an end and that means i am going to share my new pages that are based on 3 older ones. 

here is the older layout

this is what i did this month. not a direct copy i know, but i did have the old layout in mind :)

here is the second old page. 

isn´t it funny i chose wintery photos for both layouts!

i used bighugelabs.com to create the mosaic and left the large box in the middle blank so i could add in my title. 

and here is the third and last old layout.

as you can see this is more directly inspired by the older layout. the photo is of me and my sisters coffeecups that shows three different colors which really represent us as sisters; we are so different from eachother. 

well, i really enjoyed this project and will be sharing februarys layouts that i will have as inspiration to re-scrap! 

52 photos in 52 weeks 2012 ~ roundup #1

yes! it is time for my very first 52 photos in 52 weeks 2012 roundup post! so far there are many that have joined in on the ride and that is so much fun! after the first few weeks of technical problems, i think we have sorted it all out :)

we have had 3 themes already new, shine and community which is this weeks theme. i made a mosaic with the photos from the flickr group that goes with the first theme; new.

1. Week 1 2012 "new", 2. Week 1 - New, 3. 52:1 New, 4. A New Day, 5. Imperfect front cover copy, 6. week 1/52 - NEW, 7. 1/52 New day, 8. Week 1 - New, 9. 52:1 New, 10. Untitled, 11. 1/52 .... My fantastic Christmas Pressie :), 12. New...Week 1 of 52, 13. Week 1 of 52: New, 14. New, 15. New, 16. Week 1: New, 17. 1:52 - NEW - Two new lenses, 18. 52 Photos 2012, 19. New 52, 20. P52: new, 21. New1of52, 22. 1/52: NEW, 23. Wk1-New, 24. 1-5225. Not available

(some of the members have opted out to be included in mosaics made at bighugelabs.com that is why they are not showing up here.)

just look at how different we interpret the same theme; new family photo, new shoes, new day, new kittens, new goals...that is so much of why i love to have a public project like this! 

while out walking with the dogs and my husband i snapped this photo where everything felt new and fresh. 

for week two we chose the theme: shine

Robert McPherren wanted to catch a sense of "it is my time to shine" and he nails it!

PlusForHeidi posted this darling photo for the same theme and how sparkly is that sweet girl!

slcphc found rays of sunshine, which by the way is one of my favorite things :)

me, i took a photo of my word for 2012 in a shiny way! and it got picked up by shutter sisters that included it in their one word video!

(thanks patti for letting me know it was up!) 

One Word from Christine Sneddon on Vimeo.

i didn´t have time to catch a good "community" photo this week, but this photo reminds we of how we gathered around my grandmother as she passed away. me and my sisters went to a quick lunch and all had different colors in our coffeecups! 

that is it for now, oh and next weeks theme is: rest another one of my favorite things :)

a featured layout on Ella :)

i wanted to show you a layout that is included in the latest Ella zine, 

Terrific two-pagers written by Amy Sorensen for Ella publishing. 

i have found myself often doing one pagers most of the time, but i am not afraid of a little two-pager action :)

"Don’t be afraid to mass all of your photographs into just one space, bumping edges up to edges. This creates an undeniable visual appeal: eyes are immediately drawn to the photos because as a block they are cohesive. You’ll notice in Lisa Ottosson’s layout that your eyes move immediately to the four photos. It’s only after you’ve admired them all that you notice other items." - Amy

do you make two-pagers?

magic monday

i know that you would think that last week wasn´t a whole lot of magic, with my grandmother passing away. but it all got me thinking about those support words i added to my 2012 word. this post will be based on some of those words.

we gathered around my grandmothers hospital bed for 3 days. cousins, children, grandchildren...we quietly sat around following the slow-pace that was her room. from monday to tuesday she got dramatically worse and we had to embrace the fact that we had strted a big wait, the wait for her last breath. on tuesday evening i had a feeling and decided to stay the night and after a pretty scary episode that night she finally could breath a bit better and we both slept for about 2 hours. i woke up to her not breathing. she started again pretty soon, but the nurses told me to phone the others. again we gathered around her. she went in and out of breathing all day long and it was all exhausting. i almost didn´t leave her side for 20 hours and at one time it almost felt like a delivery. you know a long, long delivery, but not where you can ask for a c-section!

it was a balance between me wishing she would just go, because i knew it would be best for her, and just feeling heartbroken about her struggle. after a long day as we huddled around her petting her cheek, hair and arm she took her last breath. it might sound very harse or strange, but when i realized she wasn´t going to breath again, i kissed her forehead, said i love you and goodnight and said to myself: i am done here.

i had given my full attention both physically and emotionally to this woman that desperatly needed me and now she didn´t anymore. after hugging my mom, i stepped out of the room, quietly walked out of the ward, sat on the floor and cried. 

and as i write this and as i have reflected before, i do see magic in these days; a long talk i had with her on monday afternoon, being there with her when she had a terrible time tuesday night, as she said to me in a daze don´t go anywhere. and mostly the magic of being there for her, making her more comfortable by adding oxygen, meds or even just turning her in bed. the magic of all of us huddeling around the woman that had loved us so much. it was magic that she didn´t pass before my grandfather got there an hour earlier. for me it was magical to nurse her as she had nursed me so many times when i was a child.

it might sound crazy, but it was magic.

Project Life ~ week 2+3

ok, lets get the party started shall we! i am sharing week 2 and 3 of my project life album today, since i didn´t have time earlier this week. 

here is the first page of week 2. on the upper left corner i just added an Ali E digital brush (called Winter brushes) to a photo. and also added a journalstrip across. 

i have used my camera phone alot these weeks and i am loving how easily i can capture our moments throughout the day. and to print them is just so very easy. 

i wanted to add my january photos from the Take Twelve, so printed the mosaic i had previously made and added it to an extra page protector.

here is the other side of the insert where i used Valorie Wibbens pockets squared freebie from lilypad to print my instagrams for this week.

here is page 2. in the right lower corner i made a collage of photos my daughter took while she was at her dads for the weekend. 

these are the other products i have used this week:

Ali Edwards For the love of love brushes

Becky Higgins Turquoise edition journaling cards

Becky Higgins Clementine edition, filler cards and journaling cards

week 3

for my first page of this week, i included the story about how my grandmother passed away. it took up several days this week. 

i printed a facebook template to add the facebook love i have recieved this week ♥

as i had a long story, i added an extra pocket for some extra journaling (flip pockets like these.) but i just made it myself. 

the second page has stories from the weekend. i got some happy mail this week and a great message from the universe. 

i went with my daughter to ride and my husband studied english and worked on a assignment for a political party he is envolved in. 

more products from this week:

Becky Higgins Clementine last page, journaling and filler cards

Ali Edwards one little week free download

Pockets no. 4 from lilypad

here´s to next week!