Want To Join Me????

In browsing around bloggy land...I ran across a blog that was doing a series of posts called Wednesdays with Mom. (And of course, I am not sure where the heck I found it...it was one of those late nights looking at blogs from the blogroll of the blogroll of the blogroll of someone that I read frequently...I have to start writing down the info!!! I am delusional when I think I will actually remember where I found it!!)

I found the blog!! http://thehouseofwhimsy.blogspot.com

The posts were great as she used an old photo of her mom and then one from today to tell her mom's story. I thought this was such a great idea...and wanted to "blog-lift it". Then I remembered who my mom is....the woman that is rarely found in front of the camera. She runs from them. And when you do actually get a picture of her, it is usually the same look, no..not the glamour shots pose, more like a horror picture where they just discovered the ax murderer!

What makes me sad is that I have so few pictures of my mom to scrapbook and share who she is in our lives and how important she is. I also remembered that I have inherited this hatred for pictures from her, as I also run from the camera. If you do see a picture of me, the one I use in my profile...it is the same one that turned out half way decent, so I just use that for everything. Sad, isn't it?

About 2-3 years ago, a friend and I decided that we would do a scrapbook to celebrate our turning 50. A 50 things I love book.....sadly, it was great in theory, but not something I pursued at that time. But when I got to thinking about my lack of pictures and info from my mom...it made me realize that we as women leave so much "unsaid". And wouldn't it be great to have something from our moms, grandmother, aunts...something that was fun and told us more about who they were or are??

When thinking about this the last few days, I ran across the beginnings of that 50 things book....I changed the title as the book holds more than 50 pages and I thought it would be fun to just take it all the way through. I used an artist sketch book I found on sale at JoAnns....and decided to do a page for each item....

The front of the book is just covered with scrapbook paper...and I used a window and shutters I found in the doll house section at Hobby Lobby and painted it brown and glued to the page with a picture behind it. The words are just from a David Walker sticker set from Hobby Lobby...very, very simple.

As I started though the book, I just made a list of pages I wanted to do...if I had paper on hand that I liked for the idea...I just went ahead and glued down the paper and decided on how I wanted to do the simple layouts. For me, I just want to do a picture, maybe two and some journaling on each page. Then if I didn't have the picture or the journaling ready...I just used a post it note to remind me of what I was planning for that page.

To be honest, I should be a world renown scrapbooker if it was based on my love of papers, stickers, rubberstamps and all the great accessories. But I find I just don't do it for some reason...but these simple pages appeal to me. I am not trying to accomplish 40 of the latest techniques on each page.....it will not be winning any awards......you won't see it on the cover of one of the scrapbooking magazines. But I am working to make it something that is a reminder to me of all I have to be grateful for, those things that I hold dear, the things that make me smile....and someday, just someday....maybe there will be a granddaughter or great granddaughter that will enjoy looking through these pages, who knows?

My goal is to not stress about this, but find something each week that I am grateful for and that I love...and do a simple page about it. Would you like to join me???? I just think it would be great fun if several of us did this together. It would be a fun way to encourage each other and to exchange ideas. These pages can be as simple or as elaborate as you want....it is your book and do what makes you happy.

If you would like to do this, I would like to start it here on February 23 (we will post on Mondays)...that will give you time to find the book you want to use. It can be any size...just what would work for you. And time to gather a few supplies...some favorite papers, pictures, glues...and any accessories you would like. I would love to have you as part of this group....if you are interested PLEASE comment below so I know who wants to play along. I will try to figure out the whole "Mr Linky" thing so that when we get started you can post your pages to your blog and I will have your links here to take people there.

Looking forward to see what you come up with!!!

Check back tomorrow....I have been working on a giveaway and it will be posted on Tuesday!!!

Hugs,

Debbie