I'm so proud of myself.

Excuse the scan - it is suppose to be 12x12 but the huge flower messed up my scanning.

I am really proud of myself that I have been able to keep up this month and complete a layout a day this month. A HUGE thanks to Lain who organized it all and for all the great prompts. There is thoughts of doing this again sometime during the year again and I am for sure up for it!

Almost the end of the month

With only one more day left in this month, I have only 1 more layout (tomorrow) to complete for my LOAD challenge (layout a day). I am so happy that I have been able to keep up and actually scrap a layout a day. I must admit it hasnt been the easiest of tasks. Especially today as I really felt like doing nothing but going back to bed. The kids are playing up and I have a huge headache, but still got a layout done. However you know something is up when you dont feel like scrapbooking. 

Layout from yesterday. It was a challenge I read about on this blog. I think it's a fantastic idea, and hope that more people will take up the challenge next time around.

layout from today - lucky i got one done at all!

It's been a bit of a sad end to the week as I found out yesterday my Grandfather is seeing an Oncologist next week. I am really lucky that I will be on a plane the day after his appointment heading down under, so whatever the news is I will be there to see him not soon after. 

So with that in mind, not sure how much I will get to post until I go away. Hopefully some, we will just have to wait and see. 

Check this out ....

I love finding new sites, and this one promises to be great. An unbiased review of scrapbooking tools from adhesive to trimmers and everything else in between. And these reviews are done by scrappers for scrappers - what could be better! So go check it out here

They are having a launch party starting March 1 - so make sure you go on by and join in the fun! I know I will be.

Just not really sure about this one.

The Feb kit from Scrapmuse arrived today and I was so excited about receiving it I got straight into making a layout. I used the sketch from the newsletter and off i went. I was thinking if i work from a sketch how long can this take, max an hour right. How wrong was I. I worked on this layout nearly all day, in between seeing to the kids. Kept going away and thinking about it and coming back and trying new things. Just couldnt get it to work for me. This is what i ended up with in the end. There are a lot of things I love about it, but some things I am really not sure about. But hey thats life right!

I do though, LOVE the journalling. It came to me as I was writing the first sentence and I think it is perfect for the photo. That doesn't happen often. 

Oh and wanted to say a big Hi to Karen - good to see you back! Love your recent photos. I for some reason can't post on your blog but I just wanted to say that your comments here are loved! Thanks!!!

The next thing that is playing on my mind is our trip to Australia. It is only around the corner, only 11 days till we fly out. I was thinking as i started to pack today (dont want any last minute packing here!) that might take something to do on the plane. Do you think I am crazy? Maybe make some cards from scraps? I wont have a trimmer or scissors so would have to be a bit organized but was thinking of putting 20+ hours on a plane to good use. Think will take a sketch book for sure. What do you think am I crazy even thinking about doing this??

Which photo for today.

Fasnacht came to the village today, so not sure which photo to use for my photo of the day. What do you think???

My poor little girl, who just doesnt like the loud noises of the bands.

Snow White and her Papa

Snow White and the Clown

The clown and his parents!

Or the clown stretching his legs.

What do you think? Here is a short video of what we were watching.

You can find out more about Fasnacht here.We had a ton of fun with Rolf's sister and her family and our friends the Smith's. Great to make it a group thing.

Finally a P365 photo

Just a quick photo of Rolf and Alexandra on Wednesday. This is for sure my photo for Wednesday. Rolf took Alexandra to school for me as it was icy on the roads and i hadnt had the best experience driving in the snow the day before. If the kids are up we usually all wave goodbye to Rolf in the morning from our bedroom window (got to snap that one yet) and so Alexandra was so excited to be able to say goodbye to Dylan and I with her Papa. 

Got to be in it to win it :)

Over at Jessica Sprague's Blog you can win a class in her new photo editing class that begins Sunday, its a self paced class so start and finish when you want to. I will for sure take this class sometime this year! Just not sure when!

So to be in the competition she is running to win that free class, she asks to post one of your fav photos you have taken of a person EVER. So here is mine. 

I just love it! So yes you can't see her face, but it just sums up her personality at 3 perfectly. 

Library of Memories

Have been in class for almost a week and i have been working hard on our first lesson. Sorting photos. On the weekend I sorted through all of the photos I could fine. There still could be some photos in the basement but they will have to wait till we clean it out this spring. 

So here are my piles of photos. I sorted them first into year and then into season. I am taking a seaon being Dec-Feb Winter - Mar-May Spring - June-August Summer and September-Nov Fall. I have no problem that it is not done by year, but by season. Once all the photos were sorted I got out my new binders and started to get to work. I couldnt find 3-up ring binders like the ones suggested for LOM so I had to find my own. I found these ones in a catalog that i get four times a year. I even get a discount with coupons that i collect. So it only cost me 16.95 swiss francs, thats cheap for Swiss standards ;-). They are black leather and are 5-up. So 3 horizontal pockets and 2 vertical ones.  

I have finished sorting 2005 till the middle of 2008 and hopefully finish the rest tonight. I do though need to order some more albums, but that can wait till next month I have given out enough money this month already. 

Today I also purchased these. 

 

Thanks to a fellow LOM student I got the heads up on these in the UK. It just so happens that my friend Fiona is in the UK at the moment and so i asked her if she wouldnt mind bringing them back with her. They arent exactly like Stacy's but close enough for my liking. Not sure what i will do to them to make them more pretty - any suggestions?

How to put a scanned 12x12 layout together.

In my last post I got a comment from Sara asking how to stitch up those layouts we scan that are larger than our scanners. Here is the process I use. Not sure if this is the right way to do as I have only owned a scanner for under a week. I am working in Photoshop Elements 6 for Mac. 

First open up Photoshop Elements and go to File - New - Photomerge Panorama

When this window opens up, i choose from the lefthand side - reposition only  - again have no idea if this proper way but it works for me!
Then click browse and choose the two scans of your layout. When i scanned my layout i named one side Happy Birthday Gian a and the other Happy Birthday Gian b. Highlight both of the files you want to put together and click open.
Once the files you wanted are chosen click ok and .......
 

..... and after some moments where Photoshop (Elements) works it magic, your layout is put together. 

I then just save it first as a png file and then reduced the image size (to 72 dpi) and saved it for web so that i could post it on the net without the huge file size. 

I hope that helps you out Sara! 

If anyone has any tips for doing this differently or better, leave a comment! 

LOVING my Scanner

Happy Monday to you! Well whats left of it. I woke up this morning feeling fantastic. No washing or folding or ironing to do. Almost unheard of on a Monday morning, but it was all finished up yesterday afternoon when Rolf was out with the kids. Love it. 

I just can't believe how easy it is to scan a layout and then put it together in photoshop. Don't know why I waited so long for a scanner. So worth all the money already! Have scanned a lot of Rolf's photos and am now onto some of mine. But will share those another time ; ) .

Here is a layout i quickly did for my layout today. Unfortunatly didnt realise the difference of the blue thickers to the rest of the layout until i scanned it. Anyway still happy with how it turned out and can see it becoming a regular layout i do. This layout is for my nephew and godson, Gian's, birthday. 

Using up all my kits!

For some reason, I tend to save my monthly kits that I receive. Not sure why, but I do. Anyway Rolf took the kids out yesterday afternoon so I could scrap, so nice of him. I sat down to do some layouts for the Bushfire Victims and had a great idea. To start using my kits I should make a layout from each of them for the project. It worked out really well and have made 4 already. I then got extra creative motivation to use them up. So for today's layout I did this one.

When I first recieved this kit from ScrapMuse in May 08, I was unsure how to use it as it wasn't "my style" but I am really happy with how this turned out, and must learn to go out of my comfort zone more often. 

So my challange this week is to only use some old monthly kits for my layouts each day. 

Memory Gifts for Australian Bushfire Victims UPDATED

I assume by now that everyone has heard about the terrible fires that have affected Victoria, and are still burning. So many people have lost their lives. So many people have lost their homes and worldy possesions. Other than donating money, I couldn't think what else to do until i came across this post from Sarah Gladman. 

This is from Sarah's website: Sarah, hope it was ok to copy it from there. 

What a wonderful woman to think of such a thoughtful thing to do. By the sounds of her most recent post scrappers not only in Australia, but from around the world have chipped in to make almost complete layouts for these families who have lost everything. Today, my goal is to use up some of my stash to make as many layouts as I can for this cause. 

I will be heading to Australia in early March so I will take them with me and send them there. If you would like to make a contribution head to Sarah's site for more details. If you are in Europe and would like to contribute you can always get them to me and I will be more than happy to bring them with me to Australia in March. I leave early March. Email me if you are interested. 

UPDATED

If you are interested in making some layouts and you are in Europe. I will take as many as I can back with me when i head Downunder in early March. Please try and send any layouts to me by the 28th Feb to my post office box. 

Kristin Reinhard

Aussie Memory Gifts

Postfach 47

6318 Walchwil

Switzerland 

Thanks for any help!!

What size

Linda just left a comment in my last post wondering what size I scrap.

She currently scraps 12x12 and is thinking about changing to 8 1/2 x 11. 

I must say that when i started out scrapping I scrapped only 12x12. Keep in mind I have only been scrapping for a little over a year. I then took a class at Big Picture Scrapbooking, Design Your Life, with Cathy Zielske and there I did my first 8 1/2 x 11 layout and loved it. I now totally mix it up. I personally love to mix it up and keep all my layouts, not matter what size they are in 12x12 scrapbooks. I love the flexibility it gives me. I am actually about to scrap a 6x12 layout for LOAD today. 

I have finally got my scanner out of the box and hooked up. First thing i did was scan photos of my darling husband as a child. I have had a load of photos from my Mother in law on loan for ages. I have been meaning to take them somewhere to copy, but thanks to my new scanner, I have saved a load and can do them on my own. So here is the first photo I scanned: 

 Is he going to kill me for posting this photo. Probably not, cause he doubt he ever looks on here. Not even sure he even has the website address. But couldn't resist posting this photo. Wasn't he so cute. I LOVE the opportunities a scanner presents me. I can finally scrap photos of Rolf's and mine Christmas' growing up and finally do some of those comparison layouts I have been dying to do. 

Well I'm off to put my little boy to bed and to scrap and then quickly go upstairs for dessert. 

It has begun! Library of Memories is in session!

So excited to be able to take this class with the one and only Stacy Julian 

So the adventure begins - who else is along for the ride??

In other news, I picked up my new scanner this afternoon. Very excited to get it all set up and get to scanning some layouts and some photos. I ended up going for the Epson Perfection 4490 Photo scanner. So hopefully it will be a worth while purchase. 

LOAD - day 10

10 days in and having a blast. Today the two kids fell asleep (unheard of) AT THE SAME TIME!!! So over lunchtime I had some time to be a little creative without kids all around me. Made this layout in that time and I am happy how it turned out. Go to use my most favorite products - American Craft - and use my curvy cutter that i got for Christmas. 

Used the Curvy Cutter "segments" to make the wave on the patterened paper and the "circle" template to make the groups of circles. Just used from the third smallest circle up and just kept going up 1 making 1/8th inch bigger circles (without taking away the paper). I then alternated the groups of circles so that there were gaps in between. Really happy with how it turned out and think I will for sure use it on more layouts in the future. 

You probably can't really see the photo clearly but this is one of my fav photos of Alexandra at 18 months old. We were playing with bubbles and they are all around her on the photo. She was getting so excited. 

more LOAD

My layout for today. Lain's layout suggestion today was to use white space. So i did - i think this is one of my first photos i have scrapped for our Swiss Wedding (when you have family in two countries you get to have two weddings!) We just got the negatives from our Swiss Wedding and I am excited to be able to scrap some of them (even though the album Bea made was amazing!!)

Some LOAD layouts

I am having a lot of fun participating in Lain's Layout a Day Challenge. So far so good, have done 7 layouts up until now. Here is just a couple of the layouts I have done so far. Have been having trouble finding inspiration looking through the photos I have printed, so I uploaded a whole lot (something like 600) and they should arrive next week. Looking forward to scrapping some photos from some years ago too. 

Day 3 - Courage

Day 4 - Sisters

Day 5 - Photoshoot - Phots by Bea Tschupp (Switzerland)

Day 6 - Moments

Day 7 - The Girls 

The best news today is that I have finally convinced my lovely husband to get us a scanner. It has be a long time in the waiting and I am very much looking forward to being able to not only scan my layouts now, but also scanning photos that arent yet digital and those that belong to my inlaws (of Rolf growing up). Have been doing a bit of research and I think I have figured out which one to get - any suggestions though??

New Blog Look

So what do you think of my new "Blog Couture". If you haven't checked out this website yet, then do it now! The very talented Heidi Swapp as joined up forces with Rhonna Farrer and Janet Hopkins to form the site "House of Three". Other than being able to purchase very reasonably priced "Blog Couture" there is a digital warehouse and kits and lots of other things. Go check it out. 

Hopefully I will get some good light today (not looking good - its raining outside) and take some good photos of my LOAD layouts to share here later on. 

I am connected again!!!!!

I am so glad to be connected to the internet again. It has taken a lot of phone calls and fixing of our line and almost everything is up and running. Just waiting for a new modem so that our wireless works again, now i have to get used to having a cable running across the room to my Mac. 

I have been really busy with my layout a day challenge for this month. Having a lot of fun doing it and will post some of my layouts here at the weekend. I have been ordering a lot of photos today too. Cause I am getting ready for Library of Memories which starts a week today! So so excited about this. 

Ok better go and get my little boy some milk, he is ready for bed.  

Still no Internet

Very frustrating. Rolf has been on the phone for outs to our provider trying to fix this and still no clue as to why. Fingers crossed the guy who is being sent out today to check our cables/lines etc will find the problem and everything will be fixed by the time I get home.

Just dropped my sister off at the airport. There trip in Europe is over back to reality! We loved having them but it's only a month till we see them again. So made a little easier to say goodbye. But only a little bit.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

mmmmm technology

Having some technology issues at the moment. The Internet is either not working or so slow it may as not be working. Our cable tv even isn't working and waiting on a new box. So I will blog more when things are working again. It's making participating in LOAD -layout a day - with Lian a bit difficult but I am still having fun making a layout every day though!!! Great excuse to hide in my scrap room every evening

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

mmmmm technology

Having some technology issues at the moment. The Internet is either not working or so slow it may as not be working. Our cable tv even isn't working and waiting on a new box. So I will blog more when things are working again. It's making participating in LOAD -layout a day - with Lian a bit difficult but I am still having fun making a layout every day though!!! Great excuse to hide in my scrap room every evening

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]