Hawaii 2003

I've scrapbooked in one form or another for much of my life.  I have special occasion albums from when I was a teenager in the '80s, dance albums and work albums from the '90s, and everyday life albums starting around 1998.  I scrapped most of the important things that happened to me from 1998 to 2002... and then I stopped scrapbooking for about two years.  I'm annoyed at myself, since I met Steve in 2002 and we got engaged in 2003, yet I didn't scrap any of that.  I was too busy dating and falling in love to stop and record any of it.  Of course, I still took pictures.  I just didn't do anything with them.

Recently, I came across a pile of pictures from a 2003 family cruise to Hawaii.  I'd cropped the pictures in late 2004 (when I resumed scrapbooking in order to do our wedding album), but never actually put them in an album.  I set aside 15 minutes, glued the already-cropped pictures to black cardstock, then added floral patterned paper and a title.

 

I didn't leave room for journaling.  It's hard to know what to say (other than date and place, which are in the title, or ship name and traveling companions, both of which are in the photos). When I think back on the trip, my first memory is of horrible seasickness during the first few days as we crossed the Pacific to get to Hawaii.  I remember some great shore excursions, especially our visit to the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden in Hilo.  I remember my 2-year old nephew spilling his milk down the front of my formal gown and into my shoes (sadly, no picture of me standing in squishy shoes, totally drenched).  I remember going to karaoke with my brother-in-law for the first time (something that is impossible to forget).  I remember struggling to eat and to keep food down during the last two days of the trip and on the airplane ride home, doubled in pain, suffering horribly from yet-undiagnosed Irritable Bowel Syndrome.  My favorite memory from the trip was seeing Steve at the airport when we landed in San Francisco.  I was in such pain, I'd missed him so much, and knew the second I saw him that I had never loved anyone more and that we would be together forever.

Life as a Lefty

Raise your hand if you're a lefty! Chances are, about 10% of you are raising your hand. My hand is up high, as I am a proud lefty.

Life as a lefty isn't always easy. If you're right-handed, imagine living in a place where every single item you use on a daily basis was upside down. Yes, you'd get used to it over time and adjust to it, but that's how it can feel for lefties living in a right-handed world. Obviously, it's different for every lefty, but there are some things we all agree are harder than they should be. I've been wanting to scrap about life as a lefty for a long time. There's no better time than today, International Left-Handers' Day, to share the layout I made.

I knew that journaling would be the main focus of my layout, but I was stumped about what picture to include. The answer, when it came to me, was obvious - a picture of my own left hand. I picked up my camera (with my right hand, of course, since that's the side with the wrist strap and shutter button on every camera in the world). Then I brainstormed my biggest challenges and frustrations about being left handed. 

• there's always ink all over the side of your hand
• spiral notebooks and 3-ring binders are difficult to use
• you have to hold 'normal' scissors upside down
• ballpoint pens don't work well when you push vs. pull
• power tool safety switches are on the right
• corkscrews turn the wrong way
• loaner bowling balls are always drilled for right-handers
• you're constantly bumping elbows at meals
• left-handed chainsaws don't exist
• it's impossible to use a right-handed desk comfortably
• can openers are difficult to use
• PE classes never had any/enough left-handed equipment
• the cords on credit card machines are too short
• mugs and measuring cups are backward
• everything is the opposite of what feels natural

I wrote each item on a strip of paper, added a title, and embellished with some simple doilies I rubbed with colorful chalk.

Happy International Left-Handers' Day to all my fellow lefties!

Personalized Pencil Cases

Trevor starts second grade on Wednesday.  We've been busy with our back-to-school shopping and preparations, which included personalizing some pencil cases to hold the pens Trevor needs to bring to school.  I'd picked up this packet of 12 pencil cases at Michaels for around $3 almost a year ago.  At the time, I didn't have a plan for them, but the price was too good to pass up and I knew we'd eventually do something fun with them.  

 

We each picked a pencil case (blue for Trevor and red for me) and then wrote our names in block letters with a Sharpie.  

 

Then, we picked a contrasting shade of Stickles (Yellow for me and Firefly for Trevor).  Using a paintbrush, we painted the Stickles onto the pencil case.  

Trevor liked his pencil case so much that he decided to make a second one.  This time, he did blue on green instead of green on blue.  He can't wait for school to start so that he can show his friends his super-cool pencil cases.  Here's how they turned out:

 

Here's mine... for now.  I have some plans to embellish it a bit.  Trevor liked his EXACTLY the way they are, so I'll be embellishing solo.

 

It's just now occurring to me that these would be really fun to make in school colors, to give either to a student or to hold a gift for a teacher.  Hmm... I'm going to have to remember that!  

2013 Fair Wrap-Up

As you know, the deRosiers love the county fair!  We visited three different fairs this summer, entered in two, and I judged at one.  Between the three of us, we entered 16 craft items (including our Pinewood Derby cars), 7 baked goods, 1 collection, and 1 live contest (Trevor's owl-themed tablesetting).

By far, Trevor was the big winner.  He got a Judge's Favorite for his Pinewood Derby mouse and third place in the tablesetting contest.  He got first place for his koala puppet, button-eye owl, and his paper mouse.

 

In fact, every single one of the twelve craft items Trevor entered received first place.  I have tutorials up for how to make them all under the "Children's Crafts from A to Z" tab at the top. Many of his projects were made from recycled materials (cardboard tubes, glass bottle, etc), which meant that he ended up winning the Sweepstakes Award in recycling for the second year in a row!

Trevor had one other entry, his Lego minifig collection.  To enter a collection, you have to organize and label your items and then write about how you got started and what makes the collection special.  Trevor put a lot of effort into organizing his minifigs and writing about them... which earned him his final first place ribbon!

 

Because I am a county fair judge, I am ineligible from entering categories I judge (not only at that fair, but at my own county fair and all other fairs as well).  So I can't enter any sort of arts & crafts... except the few things I don't judge, like fiber arts or jewelry.  Since I actually made a piece of jewelry this past year, I entered it.  I got second place for my bracelet. 

The rest of my entries were baked goods.  I'm not sure what I was thinking, but I entered five items this year.  Steve entered two.  Try to imagine what our kitchen looked like with the two of us baking a total of seven different cookies, breads, and cupcakes on the same day!  It took quite a bit of coordination to make sure each of us had the oven when we needed it.   

So how'd we do?  Steve got a second place for his delicious flaxseed white machine bread.  I didn't enter in the machine bread category, so there was no rivalry there.  But we both entered drop cookies... as did a lot of other people.  My Orange Dreamsicle cookies took third and Steve's chocolate-dipped chocolate chip peanut butter cookies didn't place.

My Clove Snaps took third in their category.

 

My cupcakes didn't place, which didn't surprise me.  The cake part was good, but the frosting was a touch too sweet.

My lemon bread did exceptionally well - not only was it first in the "Other Breads" category, but it won Best of Division for all the breads!  The blueberry coffeecake to the left of my lemon bread?  Trevor's first grade teacher made it and won first place in the "Speciality Breads and Muffins" category.

 

My final entry was in the "Any Other Cookie" category.  I entered no-bake Candy Bar Cookies. Not only did they win first place, but they won Best of Division for cookies!  What a surprise!  The Best of Division rosettes were not displayed with the entries, so I didn't even know I'd won until this week when I picked up our entries and saw the little BoD on the judging card!

 

I'm sad that the 2013 fair season has come to an end for us.  Can't wait til 2014!

Kidding Around: Photo Scavenger Hunt

The final day of Kidding Around was a photo scavenger hunt.  You already know how much I love photo scavenger hunts, which we do frequently when we're on vacation.  Trevor decided we'd do this photo scavenger hunt at home.  Here's what we found (Trevor's first and then mine):

• Something orange (Monopoly money, Fiskars scissors)
• Somebody's hands (mine, Trevor's)
• A favorite thing (stuffed animals, Trevor)
• Something that starts with the letter S (Snap Circuits, stamps)
• Something square (candy dispenser, 12x12 patterned paper)
• Something you can smell (Kool Aid, oranges)
• Someone smiling (Smily the Shark, Lego minifigs)
• Something rough (sticks on cage, plant-material rabbit)
• Something with words (current library book, stack of A-Z Mysteries)
• Something silly (lemons used for stamping, my trendy project)

We printed out quick copies of the pictures (excuse the lines in every photo- our printer is getting worse and worse) and glued them in our journals.  That didn't leave much space for anything else.  Here's Trevor's:

And here's mine:

 

Trevor and I had so much fun with Kidding Around!  I'm so glad we did it together.  We each have a journal filled with a summer's worth of memories.