I think it's a scrapbook kind of night

A sample layout from one of my FAVORITE scrapbook stores! 
Times to Remember , in Hershey PA

Last week, the flu really wiped me out.  I looked at my scrapbook table a couple of times, but my head was too foggy to make critical choices about color and design and which pictures should be featured.  But I am feeling MUCH better now, and it's time to play!

I can almost feel the paper in my hands.  I have a couple of packages of new stickers I'm itching to open and play with.  And then there are the wedding pictures I haven't even started scrapping yet.  And the camping trip, and the Mother's Day breakfast and the "My Faith" scrapbook I've been meaning to start ever since I skimmed through Courtney Walsh's book about it at a crop. I love the idea of putting things like faith or dreams or other "intangibles" into scrapbooks -- it helps me clarify my own feelings better than words alone ever do.

And then there's the "Behind the Camera" book I wanted to start with the stickers I got a few months ago, and the Pets scrapbook and the pages in my Journey Book I need to update and the pictures from the Rockies....

Yup, I'm sooooo ready to cut and paste and arrange, and pull out my newest Creating Keepsakes layout idea books for inspiration, and try something new for my journaling....

It's a good night to clear out some of those leftovers in the fridge and freezer, so cooking won't cut into my scrapping time, too. After all, I was meaning to clean out anyhow, and that was on my FlyLady list a week or so ago, and so I really should....

Yeah, it's a scrapbook kind of night.  Anyone with me?  Send me a link to the layouts you do tonight, and I'll post mine.

What makes you want to play?

A couple of months ago, we adopted a puppy.  She's a Rhodesian Ridgeback/Boxer mix, and she loves to play. For Maya, anything can be a toy...a stray sock, a milk bottle lid, a carelessly dropped pencil.  We spend a lot of time getting things away from her, and substituting the right chew toys.

But there are a couple of toys that always spark that "Let's play!" attitude in this 50 pound, 8 month old pup, and one of her favorites is a set of interlocked rubber rings. All she has to do is see that toy in our hands, and it's instant playtime.

So that started me thinking...what makes it instant playtime for me?  What transcends the mood of the moment, and just shifts gears for me?  What does that for you?

For me, it's:

• Scrapbook stores - spot one, and I am instantly ready to play with paper and pictures!
• Taking a wrong turn onto an interesting street -- I go into explorer mode, and as my kids can attest, the result is usually a fun discovery or two.
• Windy days, especially cool windy days.  Especially cool windy days in autumn. I want to get outside and play as soon as I feel it! 

So what about you?  What triggers your playful spirit?  

Happy Pink Saturday!

Creating a journey book

42 pages so far.

Each one decorated with beautiful paper, each with a title and a space for a photo or two.

This is my Journey Book.

I called it that because I found a beautiful metallic plaque in the Times to Remember scrapbook store in Hershey PA. It simply reads "Journey." That's on the cover.

It's not a record of the things I've done so far in my life. It's a map of where I hope to go on the journey that remains.

Some of the pages represent big dreams...Open a bookstore.

Some are places I want to go ....Visit Egypt.

Some are things at home...Create my perfect bedroom

Some are outside...Find out what happened to Great Aunt Blanche

Some are worldly...Buy a small house

Some are spiritual...Become a chaplain

And a few are deep in my heart ...Find true and lasting love

But all of them, big and small, relatively easy to obtain, and much more complex, have become a part of my roadmap for the time ahead.

As I go through time, more pages will be added.

I may not achieve them all. Or I may someday have a photo on each and every page.

Whatever the outcome, holding a book of dreams in my hands is a wonderful feeling.