My Congo Album, part 1

I just wanted to thank everyone for you kind comments and emails. I felt very encouraged after my last post and am very appreciative for your support and care.

A highlight of the past weekend for me was finishing my Congo album. I had a bit of incentive-- the Congo committee at my church asked if they could display it at their fundraising evening this Saturday-- just the kick in the pants I needed to get it done. ;)

So, I thought I share it here on my blog. There are over 40 layouts, so I'll spread it out over several posts. To see any original photos/stories that I posted about my trip back in March, you can just click on the "Trip to Congo 2010" link at the bottom of this post and it will show all of them.

To explain a few things...

I wanted the album to have a cohesive feel, so I used kraft cardstock and Pink Paislee 365 Degrees patterned paper (with a few sheets of Fancy Pants and October Afternoon thrown in here and there.)

I also wanted to use simple design and chose not to use a lot of embellishments. I wanted the focus to primarily be on the photos and stories.

Because I'm not a huge fan of 2 page layouts and tire of them quickly, I decided to use WeR Memory Keepers: 12x12 Page Protectors Multi-Pack 10 pack to house some of my photos, while creating a regular 12x12 layout beside it. I found that this worked very well for me. It gave me a variety of choices for the orientation of the photos and kept the album feeling fresh.

If you have any other questions about my process, please don't hesitate to ask.

Here we go...


The title page. This photo was taken in front of the Kwilu River, in Kikwit.


Where the story began... with the fundraising I needed to do to be able to afford the trip.


Our commissionning at church. This took place several weeks before we left because two of our team members (Ken & Len) left earlier to go to South Africa first.


A layout using a photo taken of me in the Toronto airport. This is where it began to sink in that I was really going to Congo.


The hostel we stayed in in Kinshasa.


Scenes form Kinshasa. I was only able to take a few photos in the city for fear that police officers or soldiers would take my camera away from me. In Kinshasa, I had to be very discreet with my photo-taking.


Such a different culture there, I had to journal about it.


The walk to the Bon Berger clinic was something I'd never experienced before. There was garbage everywhere.




At the Bon Berger Clinic. The name means "Good Shepherd."


We were able to witness a cool Congolese tradition. When a woman has a baby and is ready to go home, friends will come and do her hair and nails and toenails. Then she gets all dressed up and her friends come to the hospital (all dressed up) to take her home. They walk together down the street, singing really loudly, rejoicing in the birth of the baby. Later, when we left the clinic to go back to M.P.H., we passed the house where they were partying/celebrating. It was very cool.

Thanks for looking!

Five for Friday

1. I haven't been having the best week. There have been some stressors at home and I haven't been sleeping well. With working three days this week, & taekwondo back to a three days a week schedule, I've been quite tired and maybe, just maybe a little irritable. I know this isn't the best way to start a post, but I also feel that I shouldn't have to pretend everything is perfect, when, in reality, it's not.

2. I read a non-fiction book this week. Not my genre of choice, but the title caught my eye at the library: Skinny Chicks Don't Eat Salads. It was a good read with lots of information to keep in mind when making healthy choices (one of my goals for the new year), but a little unrealistic in some areas with when to eat. But some things I'll definitely be trying.

3. I did Day 4 of the 30 Day Shred yesterday. (Shh, don't tell, but I've started this workout program twice before and never made it to Day 3!) The plan was to do Day 5 today, but with so few hours of sleep last night, I just couldn't do it. But, tomorrow, I will. I promise.

4. I am blessed with wonderful, suppportive friends and I'm ever so thankful for them.

5. We've been watching How to Train Your Dragon & Despicable Me over & over. I love them both equally.

Bonus: I posted Winter Sketch #3 on the MSS Blog today. The sketch is Sketch #57 from Inspired Blueprints & this is the layout I made with it:



Thanks for looking!
Have a good weekend!

Warning: The following post contains lots of pink!

For Christmas, I made Sage a quilt. I was inspired by this quilt by Susan Weinroth.



Here's the front:



And the back:



I was so thrilled that I was able to keep it a surprise from her until she opened it up on Christmas morning! And she loved it! (The boys really liked it, too, as they've both requested a quilt for them-- but in orange!)

I also wanted to make something for her wall in her room. I'd purchased some Large Making Memories Chipboard Letters to spell out her name years ago, but had never done anything with them.

Then, while looking at my new My Mind's Eye True Blue papers I focused the banner theme (which I love!) and thought that a banner might be a great way to tie in the fabrics from her quilt and the MM letters.

So, I came up with this:



At first, I was going to make each banner a different fabric, but I thought cutting them into strips and sewing them together might be cool with a quilted together look.



For the edging, I cut felt using my new Cuttlebug machine and my friend, Mandy's Large Scalloped Border Die. I pinned it behind the fabric edge and sewed them on.

Here's a close up of the "G":



Again, I'm sorry for all the pink-- I hope it wasn't too sugary-sweet for you! ;)
Thanks for looking!

Hmmm, can you spot a theme here?

If you said: "they're all Christmas layouts," then, ding! ding! ding! , you are correct!

I made them all this weekend, along with the MSS online crop. Some were for challenges, and others just because. I find if I don't scrap my Christmas photos in December/early January, then I don't feel like scrapping them during the rest of the year. So I decided that I would get them scrapped this weekend.

And I did.

I have a few more I might scrap, but if I don't feel I should/have to scrap them, them I might be more inclined at a later date.

Thanks for looking!

Friday Five

1. I had the worst sleep ever last night. A combination of being over-tired from the last week or so, pressure from knowing I had to work today and having a six year old with a cough (& requests for something to drink!) climb into my bed somewhere around 4am. Grrr. Needless to say, I wasn't my best at work today.

2. I didn't choose a word for 2011. There. I said it. I don't know why I feel like I've let anyone down (because I'm sure I haven't.) I just find that I tend to focus on the word for a week or two, then I forget about it. So, I just decided to make a few goals for the beginning of the year instead. (See #3.)

3. My goals go hand in hand. I want to test for my black belt in May and I would like to be 20 pounds lighter when I do. So, I will eat less and exercise more. And hopefully, this will work for me. ;)

4. I left my camera in Winnipeg on New Year's Day. It's safe at my mom's house, but I'm missing it.

5. MSS is having an online crop this weekend. You can click here to check out the challenges if you'd like.

Here are two layouts I posted for challenges:





I hope to post some more layouts this weekend as I complete them for challenges! I love snowy, cold scrappy weekends!

Another layout to share...

... which I made using Creative Scrappers Sketch #136 and the MSS January kit.


I added the Bazill cardstock, Basic Grey buttons and Girls' Paperie poinsettias from my own stash.

Thanks for looking!

Some new layouts....

... to share that I made using the January kit from MSS. What a great kit-- I got seven layouts done with it--I'm sharing six here and saving one for later! ;)


In addition to the kit, on this layout, I used some October Afternoon rub-on letters. This is the front and on the back...


I'm really pleased with how this one turned out-- which is good, because it literally took me hours to do all of that hand-cutting!


A simple one. I cut out the tree and the base from the Crate patterned paper and adhered them with popdots for some dimension.


On this one, I added some fabric covered Crate brads & used my new snowflake punch. The third brad is Autumn Leaves-- a scrappy garage sale purchase at SSD.


Another fairly simple one. I'd taken photos at both choir events, but wasn't feeling inclined to scrap them both separately, so I combined them in one layout.


One of my favourites-- on this one, I added some American Crafts thickers and a Stampin' Up! die cut.

Thanks for looking!

2010 top 10

As the year comes to a close, I thought I'd post my 10 favourite layouts that I made during 2010.





















Thanks for looking!
And wishing you a happy, blessed & creative 2011!

December 29th

This afternoon, we took my niece to see The Voyage of the Dawn Treader at the theatre (it was Austin's Christmas present to her-- he'd picked her name for our gift exchange.)

And for the past couple of days, I've been scrapping. Ahhh, it's felt so good!
I set up my tools on the dining room table and broke out my MSS January kit. It feels like old times-- I made seven layouts with this kit!

Here are a couple of peeks:





Thanks for looking!

December 28th

Austin's best friend, Soren, came over for the day. They played PS3 (Soren's), Wii and watched videos. They also went tobogganning with Jonah & Sage. My niece, Heidi, came over for lunch and to scrapbook together.


December 27th



Sage spent the night at my MIL's, so the boys and I went to Winkler in the morning to spend their Christmas money. We relaxed for the rest of the day. I scrapbooked at the dining room table. My niece, Heidi, dropped in for a bit. After supper, we had a movie night.


December 26th



We went to the farm in the afternoon to celebrate Cam's mom's birthday.


December 25th



We spent the morning at home, opening gifts and putting together Lego sets. In the afternoon, we went to the farm. Cam's sister's family was there, too. We skated for a bit on the rink Cam built. I went for a walk with my SIL & her daughter. We had supper together and opened gifts afterwards.


December 24th



Cameron took Austin & Sage to the farm with him in the morning, so Jonah & I hung out together at home. We did patterns, practised piano and made cookies. After lunch, Austin, Jonah & Sage went tobogganning while I walked to Coop for some groceries. When I got back to the school, we walked to the library together. In the evening, we attended a fabulous Christmas Eve service at my church.

December 23rd

I was so excited to get my last gift done last night and all of my wrapping finished, too!



This morning, Cameron took Sage with him to the farm, so it was just the boys and me. I let Austin use some of my supplies so he could finish off his gift for his secret person (we drew names back in November and it has been top secret!)
We also ran some errands in Winkler this afternoon and went to Twister's for supper. The kids loved the little juke boxes in the booths-- so wishing I'd brought my camera along. Jonah already asked this evening if we could go back next week! LOL!
We rented and watched Elf this evening-- a first viewing for all of us! Lots of laughter and cuddling-- a perfect evening!