10 things 15 years of motherhood taught me

My daughter turns 15 on Sunday. 15! Oh my! Each year around her birthday I think back on how time has gone by so fast and that I would like her to be my baby forever. Now as she is getting closer to adulthood, I am acctually also curious and looking forward to what she is going to become. Anyway, today I share 10 things motherhood has taught me these past 15 years. Enjoy!



1. A guilty conscience. Bam! right from the start! It´s like as soon as you hold your baby your head sets into a mode where you feel guilty about everything. Spending not enough time with the baby, or too much time (is she ever going to sleep on her own?!), wanting to sleep etc. And this just goes on as the baby grows. Get used to it!

2. Big love. Love that is nothing I have ever known ever before or after. It is indeed like having a piece of your heart walk around outside your body.

3. Enjoy it! I wish I would have enjoyed each age better. Someone once told me to remember that she (my daughter) will never be 3 again or 9 or 15.

4. Portability. You can bring along a child to most places. I had her with me everywhere; travels, shops, libraries and even at school. She just got used to it and learned how to behave in different social situations along the way.

5. Proud moments. There have been so many moments when I have felt so, so proud of her. It started with her first smile, step and clap of hands. But could also been her first word, art work and first time on stage.

6. Mama Bear is out. The mama bear feelings also comes right at birth, I think. That feeling of knowing you would pick up a car from her if neccessary. That feeling is so strong!

7. Not enough. The fear that I haven´t done enough, taught her enough life skills. Have I done enough so that she will do good in life? That question lies under the surface so many times.

8. Friends. Fear that I haven´t bonded with her enough for her to know that she can tell me anything!

9. You forget. No, I don´t remember which tooth of hers that came first or the exact date that she took her first step, but I am ok with that because I remember so many other things! And scrapbooking helps a lot!

10. Confindence! I am guilty of talking bad about myself infront of my daughter. I know that it
 isn´t good, but it is done. I still hope that the many times I have told her that she is perfect has the overhand and has effected her more.

There you have it, 10 things of many things that this crazy ride of motherhood has taught me so far.

Happy Friday!

Project Life 2014 | Week 26

This is my week 26.

Here are some tips and tricks I have used for this spread:

Photos: Sometimes it is fun to use details of events as I did with the strawberries.
This week I took photos out the window early in the morning and then at night. It is fun to see what changes during the day.

Stories: I included stories about the garden, monthly events like my fiancé getting his MS medicine, our canning sessions, how light it is nowadays and a cat story :)

Tips! I have used a card I made myself using the Rhonna designs app on my iPhone, here is a link to how I did that.
Tags are the bomb!
Cut up PL cards and use details of them.
Use 1" circle punched embellsihments,

Thanks for stopping by!

WCS | July gallery

Happy July! I can´t believe that yet another month has passed by already! 

But the first of each month always has something fun in it, the new gallery at WCS.

The theme this month is The great outdoors. Oh and you know I could have made 100 layouts on this topic! But I just made 3 ;)

This is a 6x8" page and I really enjoy making pages in this size. I love how they look in my album among the bigger ones. 

I have had this peony for a few years and it started out pityful and didn´t bloom for a while. Then three years ago it finally got strong stems and grew one flower. Now it has become stronger and bigger and it brings me such joy seeing the process. 

This is my second page for the gallery.

Everyone that knows me, knows I love my garden. Being able to grow things is good for the soul and the process is so very cool. I love being able to plant a seed, care for it and then being able to harvest. 

I have said a hundred times before, we live on the most beautiful place on earth! 

Now hop on over to the WCS blog! 

Guestblogging | Featured on rukristin.com

I am super excited to share that I am featured on rukristin.com today as Currently card community member! I share a little about how I use her currently card/idea in my memorykeeping. Go check it out! 

The following is from the blog post!

Take five minutes to tell your 'right-now' story.

What are you currently reading, watching, and loving? Write it down!

The Story:

In late 2012, I was playing around with the idea of a weekly journaling introspective that was super easy to complete. I created a simple journaling card with the prompts already listed. Each week I grab a card and spend just a few minutes filling it out.

Over the past year, the #CurrentlyList community has exploded on instagram and in our brand newfacebook group. Today I am excited to have Lisa Borbély from Crafts and memorykeeping here to share her Currently List!

Community Member: Lisa Borbély

My name Lisa and I am a memorykeeper. Yep, I try to record our ( along with myself this also include my 15 year old daughter and my fiancé) lives as much as I can. I have always loved to see the everyday as special and so very important to record. These are indeed the days of our lives, the everyday moments are what forms who we become.

In the years that I have been doing this, I have learnt that I can´t record everything, clearly. But with some help from routine, practice and tools it is pretty easy to save the right now in our lives. The Currently card is a great example of this. It is such an easy and quick way to catch who you are at the moment! I have used this method for a good while in different forms. In my “regular” memorykeeping layouts I have included both the actual Currently card and also written my own list with inspiration from the card. Often these ages are about my daughter. I would have loved to have my teenage years more documented!

Most often I choose a regular weekday instead of say a birthday, since the everyday interests me the most. But to fill in a card every birthday would make an awesome minibook, right!

A few years ago I started Project Life and I am on my third year of weekly spreads. I have included a Currently card here and there in my album and it gives such a (with lack of a better word!) current feeling to the spread. I fill out a card during the week and add it in my album during my PL session during each weekend. But I share a photo of it on Instagram straight away! 

_________________________

Now go to Kristins blog and read more about this!

Project Life 2014 | Week 21

Week 21 and one of the last weeks I´ll put in this years first album. 

Tip: Sometimes it's enough to just add ONE word to a photo! 

Tip: Use a whole photo as your background, journaling space and where you embellish. 

Tip: Practice taking self portraits so that you are in the photos too! Here are a link  to a post with selfie tips!

I am plugging away with Project life each week and have a few spreads to share throughout the week. 

DIY | Rhonna designs

I use my iPhone a lot. Like a lot! So whenever I learn a new trick I am happy to share! 

Today I'll show you how I made my own printable cards I'll use in my pocket pages! 

I use the app called Rhonna Designs which is an app where you can add text and overlays to your photos. You can also create quote cards etc using their backgrounds. There are a few to choose from and for what I am showing you today I used the white background choice. When you have picked that you'll set the size and for this you will want to pick the 3x4 size. 

The app is so easy to use! You simply select the text tool or the overlay tool, change the color and the size to your liking and voila you are done! 

I saved each of my cards at the High resolution option so that they would print good. 

And boy did they print good! I could print them on a full A4 (8.5x11) crystal clear! 

Just think of the possiblities! 

Just a friendly reminder that I have moved my blog! 

If you have me in your blogreader or follow otherwise you might have to do an update with the new URL: www.craftsandmemorykeeping.blogspot.com

I will be updating a few posts here during the day, just to make sure to lure you in to the new site :)

What makes me happy - a minibook

A month or so ago I showed you a PL week where I used the app Collect to create the cards with photos and journaling right in my iPhone. I really liked it and started this new project the same week. I had a Simple Stories 6x8" album at home and decided to make a minialbum with things/people/places that make me happy. 

The first few pocket pages hold a whole month of #makesmehappy cards I made with the Collect app. 

It was so easy to go back and get the photos and add just a few words for each day. I then just saved them on my phone and printed them. 

I have added to the mini since then and use just regular photos for some of the pockets aswell. Sometimes I add words, but often a photo says it all. 

I am looking forward to add happy things to this!

Ps. You know I have a new blog, right?! Don´t miss any posts! 

Memorykeeping | @ work

A few weeks ago Sue Althouse hosted the WCS blog with a week of go-to designs. She showed examples for a row of different designs and I found myself nodding while I read throw her posts. One of them was a band design (or grid) one I use frequently. 

I made this after reading that post about band designs. I have found that I often turn to squares when I want to work with grids. Perhaps it is because they have such an even size. 

These photos were all taken at work and I love to include pages about where I am at work right now. This is clearly not a lenghty and story centered layout, rather it shows a few glimpses into how it looks at the moment. I have done a few with more journaling before and I am sure I will do them later too. 

______________________

Ps. Don´t forget to sign up for this self paced class! 

Memorykeeping | Liliacs (Sketch solutions)

I had the chance to join the BPC class Sketch Solutions. It is so much fun! Since I have begun to use more and more sketches over the last year the class has inspired me so much. I thought I´d share a few of my layouts throught the class. Here is one I did for lesson 2 where the sketch had 2 smaller photo elements and 1 larger.

I opted to have 2 smaller photos up in the corner, but they are the same photo printed twice and adhered with a 3D glue dot to create some dimension. I used the larger photo placement for my journaling instead. I love how it turned out and how easy it is to adapt most sketches to my needs and style. 

The journaling talks about my love for liliacs and that they remind me of summer leave from school. When I was younger we always celebrated end of school in the church and decorated it with summer blooms including liliacs. Nowadays they are already gone by the end of May sadly. 

I love that I got this done on paper! 

Do you use sketches?

Today is the day! New blog!

So, I decided to change my blogs name and URL! It is kind of fun to do a re-launch kinda thing :) 

Since this is mainly a place where I share my adventures in crafts and memorykeeping, what better name and just that! 

Do this before June 1st!

If you have me in your blogreader or follow otherwise you might have to do an update with the new URL: www.craftsandmemorykeeping.blogspot.com

WCS | June gallery

Since WCS has it´s birthday in June, we have all created projects inspired by something in the last year for this months gallery. I could have made several layouts, but this is the one I chose. I used the March sketch.

I have loved working with sketches this year and I have made several layouts with our sketches. I was drawn to this one because it is out of my comfort zone. I usually have white space around the photos + papers etc. But the sketch had interesting elements. 

To have your spouse meet you after work should perhaps not be anything extraordinary, but when it comes to Stellan it is. He met me one day walking without a cane or walker. That is extraordinary. He trains all the time to get stronger and better and it makes me so happy!

I simply love the stamps from Cocoa Daisy! They are so easy to use and has very high quality, making it easy to stamp sharply. Oh and tags, tags makes my heart sing too :)

Lists with Friends 2014 | A few of my favorite moments from this week

1. Sprouting seedlings everywhere in the garden.
2. Seeing the flowers bloom.
3. Finding the cats laying in the best places.
4. Blue skies.

5. When everything feels purely good.
6. Yard sales.
7. Colors that match in nature.

8. DIY projects for the garden.

9. Herbs on the drying rack.

10. That smile is the best thing in the whole world!

________________________________________

This post is part of a list-making project called Lists With Friends 2014, an effort to document the year in lists of all types. I love lists, and I love a good project : )

Ps. Don´t forget to sign up for this self paced class! 

The Phone Photography Project: Summer challenges A Self-Paced eCourse

I am so very happy to announce that the awesome Phone Photography Project (that I was apart of last summer) is being released as a self-paced class right now! It is called:

The Phone Photography Project: Summer Challenges

31 FUN photo challenges + 60 app reviews for iPhone and Android—at your own pace!

Are you looking for oodles of inspiration for photographing your summer adventures? Our biggest, best class of 2013 is back this summer only as a self-paced workshop, now called The Phone Photography Project: Summer Challenges. (And we have a brand-new sequel, too! Don't miss our guided workshop, The Phone Photography Project 2, starting July 17.)

The Phone Photography Project: Summer Challenges includes:

• 31 photography challenges available immediately in the classroom, so you can tackle them at your own pace in the order you choose
• Multiple photo examples, instructor interviews, and bonus content to round out each of the 31 challenges
• 60 comprehensive app reviews illustrated by screenshots and beautiful photo examples
• 7 helpful PDF handouts, including: "Instagram 101," "A Few of Our Best Random Phone Photography Tips," "Photo Printing Review," and more!
• Class hashtag (#bpcphonephotographyproject) and individual challenge hashtags so you can connect with classmates on Instagram
• All the same great content from the original Phone Photography Project guided workshop (from summer 2013), now in a self-paced format!

Note: Don't have a smartphone? All challenges can be tackled with a DSLR or point-and-shoot camera. App reviews, tips, and tricks will only be of interest to smartphone users.

Register in June, and The Phone Photography Project: Summer Challenges becomes the perfect warm-up forThe Phone Photography Project 2! Or start PPP: Summer Challenges immediately following PPP2 on August 17. Or take this self-paced class all by itself, and start any time you want, thanks to our promise of forever access! The choice is yours, but you can only register through Labor Day, so don't delay. (Tip: Visit our PPP2 FAQ pageto see how the two classes compare.)

I am going to take all the challenges again myself starting June 1st!
Follow me on Instagram, my username is lisaborbely
 I hope that you will join me! 

Click here to sign up! 

WCS | Scraplift week ~ Inspired by Laura O´Donell

I was wrong about this being the last page I had to share from the Scraplift week at WCS! 

For this one, I was so inspired by this page by Laura! 

I simply loved Laura´s design! It is so pleasing on the eyes with the grid the photos create and the stacked papers under them. I especially love that she used that bottom white paper for her journaling. As you can see my page is almost a total scraplift which in my book is a high form of praise!

I love this page and I love our newly built raised beds!

Here is the link to the post on WCS!

New blog name and URL coming JUNE 1st!

So, I decided to change my blogs name and URL! It is kind of fun to do a re-launch kinda thing :) 

Since this is mainly a place where I share my adventures in crafts and memorykeeping, what better name and just that! 

Do this before June 1st!

If you have me in your blogreader or follow otherwise you might have to do an update with the new URL: www.craftsandmemorykeeping.blogspot.com

Project Life 2014 | Week 19

Story: This week started with a migraine that made me stay home from work. When I felt a little better I took out my watercolors and did a super simple sketch of how we planned the vegetable garden. I am certainly no expert but I think it is fun to include stuff I played with. 

Story: The rest of the week we prepared for my daughters confirmation that took place on Saturday. 

Stuff: I have both journaled onto a photo and on a tag this week. I am super comfortable blending different ways of journaling on the same spread.

Stuff: Since I have already done some journaling about the actual confirmation I simply added photos of my daughter from that day and some simple embellishments from Simple Stories. 

Story: Sunday we were all so tired from the festivities the day before, so we had a big old lazy fest! 

Stuff: No need for photos all the time! I added chipboard letters to a transperency and called it done.

Note: My album is getting really thick so I am thinking I might have to start a new one. Last year I made it to week 25 before the album got full! 

Memorykeeping | Friday Flowers using Cocoa Daisy´s May sketch

I visit the blog at Cocoa Daisy every day and am always inspired by the content. I have used their monthly sketch for a while now and this is what I made using their May sketch. 

It has been a while since I used buttons on a page! But they were perfect for the circle elements on the sketch.

My fiancé founded the tradition Friday Flowers more than a year ago and is still making me smile every Friday (sometimes Saturday)!  

Thanks for stopping by!

My maiden name

So, if you follow me on Facebook, you might have noticed that I changed my name yesterday. I have taken on my maiden name again after 15 years. It felt like the right thing to do and my fiancé is thrilled about it. 

Those of you that are longtime folloers might remember that my family is part Hungarian and my mother is from what was the Hungarian part of former Yugoslavia. Growing up I was the one with the weird name and it felt really good when I changed it to a Swedish name when I got married. No more questions, errors in spelling and explaining to do. 

Over the years and especially the last few, I have grown to like my maiden name since it is so rare and special. And it feels both strange and totally normal now that I have changed it back. I am sure I will make some errors when I need to sign anything the coming weeks :)

I haven´t decided if I will change my blogadress and so on just yet. I wanted to share it here and on social media first, so you´d know what is going on. I have had people serach my name for scrapbooking stuff, so that might be a hassle now... We´ll see what i can do to make that easier!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Yours truely, Lisa Borbély ;)

Project Life 2014 | Week 18

Week 18 was a very ordinary week in my life. Other than the fact that me and my daughter had one of our monthly dates.  We went to a movie and it turned out we were almost the only ones :) It was a very warm afternoon on a Tuesday, so... But it was fun! We went for a little shopping too and we both love that! I took a photo of her sitting all alone in the theater and put that in a flip pocket. Underneath are some facts about the movie and the tickets.

I filled out at Currently card this week and added it in. I love them! During the weekend we had great weather and my sister and her family came for a visit.
During the week I had one of those magical days at work when there was this flow to everything.

So I made a card just for that where I talk about why I chose to be a teacher. I printed that Yes on transperency and added it to a patterned paper.

I also took the best photo ever of my nephew :) All in all a great ordinary week!