One inch squares swap - step 1

One inch squares swap - step 1, originally uploaded by Kirsten W.

So, time to get crackin' on the one inch collage squares swap I signed up for. I was goingn for sweet spring colors (to combat the winter blahs around here) and a grid design that I thought I would enjoy working with. Right now it looks like a mess, but hopefully it will A) grow on me or B) look better all chopped up into tiny pieces. More progress to come shortly, I hope.

Hello from frozen Iowa...

So, Saturday we had an ice storm. You can probably see from the pictures that it was cold and unpleasant (although the ice was kind of pretty). Luckily, our only inconvenience was that we lost internet and cable for a few hours, but many, many people in the area were without power - and are still without power. Actually, the school where I work is without power - so no school today or tomorrow. I've been spending my day cleaning, running errands in town, working on grades online and trying to start a fire in our fireplace... so tomorrow will really be a free day - probably to be spent on working on some mail art projects and scrapbooking.

I made this layout with the new Basic Grey paper - yummy - at our monthly teacher scrapbooking night last Thursday.

Moving Day book

When I saw this blank house-shaped book, I knew it would be a great place to hold the photos from moving day. This weekend when I went to Des Moines, we had a scrapbooking day and I got the whole thing done! I love the shape and those little mini-alphabet stickers. Fun! It is so satisfyingly quick to get a whole mini-book put together in a weekend.

Here is a detail of the kitty in the window and one of the inside pages. Thanks for looking!

new layouts

While I was home on my snow day on Tuesday, I thought I would get a jump on the layouts I needed to make for my upcoming class at Reminisce on the 27th. The guidelines are that we're creating 5 12x12 pages - one page with 1 photo only, a 2 pg. layout with 7 photos, and a 2 pg. layout with 15 (!) photos. I decided to use the photos from pumpkin carving with Jake last fall for the 15 photo layout. I'm really happy with it - lots of orange! You can see more on my flickr.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Our social committee surprised the staff at school today by bringing in a chocolate fountain and tons of things for dipping. DEE-licious. Valentine's day is always a good excuse to celebrate chocolate.

Yesterday we had our first snow day of the year. It could not have come at a better time for me. I did some unpacking and cleaning, made 4 pgs. worth of layouts for an upcoming Reminisce class, and was able to be home for our couch delivery. The drifts in the photo below were right outside our front door. Even though it snowed less than a foot, the wind was blowing all day and this snow collected under our porch. It was definitely a good day to stay inside!

Getting Settled

Here we are, in the house for a week already! Many boxes have been unpacked, the washer and dryer have arrived (but not been installed yet), the first load has been sent through the dishwasher, a few pieces of artwork have found a home, and the art loft, closet, and kitchen are all reasonably organized. Looking forward to the couches arriving tomorrow - and maybe a snowday for some extra unpacking time! Mom came this weekend and helped us unpack a little more - she also wanted to work on a small scrapbook for a gift. I spent some time working on a layout for a journalling class I'm teaching at Reminisce - it felt great to get all my supplies out again.
Here are a few shots of the art loft - more to be found on my flickr. Just love at first sight - the natural light is wonderful - it is small enough to be cozy, but big enough to store everything. Even though I love the warm neutral wall color that is throughout the house, this may be the first room I give a new paint color. Any suggestions? I'm leaning toward a soft green, I think.

First Sunrise

I enjoyed seeing my first sunrise out the kitchen window at our new house this morning. Most every thing is moved in - thanks to some hard working family and friends this weekend - and I even have a few things unpacked and settled in. Lots of work still to come in the week ahead but it is wonderful to be sleeping in our new house - surreal, almost. I adore it.

Tomorrow is the day that we close on our new house! I am SO excited and a little nervous - but friends and family will be on hand to help us move this weekend (it will be a balmy 3 degrees - woo hoo!) and by next week we will be starting to settle in.

The photos are of an altered journal I made tonight while taking a break from last minute packing and organizing. It was the first assignment for an online scrapbooking class I signed up for called "28 Days" from Big Picture Scrapbooking. It is projects designed for every day of February. I know, I know, I'll be too busy moving in to a new home to make something every day, but I hope that it will keep me motivated to keep creating even during that craziness. Plus, I can download and save the directions each day, so even if I fall behind it will be flexible.