First day of school and first try at canning

We are lucky to have two plum trees in our yard, and this year they have been producing prolifically. I decided that it was time to order some jars and a starter tool kit. I also ordered this book which has instructions and lots of great recipes.

This attempt (#2) at plum preserves turned out pretty well. My first attempt was awfully thick, I think I overcooked it. Then I tried a watermelon-jalepeno jam with no luck - I think I cooked it too long at too low of a temperature. Then, I tried another batch of plum jam with orange zest, but it didn't set-up. Bummer. Looks like I have lots to learn, but I am determined. I want to have another way to make use of the bountiful fruit we have in our yard.

My plum preserves were ready just in time for a first day of school gift for Lachlan's kindergarten teacher. I used a 2" circle punch and alphabet stamps to label the top, then added a tag with letter stickers and a written message on the back.

Then I put the gift and a packed lunch in his new backpack and sent him off to Kindergarten! Big day for all of us! I think this photo accurately captures the excitement and nervousness that he and I were feeling.

L's second year at preschool, Vol. 2

I took advantage of Preucil's photo Shutterfly Share Site + a 40% off photo books promotion, and made a book about Lachlan's year at preschool. This design matches the 8 1/2"x11" book I made last year, so now we have a fun set!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Turn your favorite photos into a photo book at Shutterfly.com.

Hello, Story - first 3 pages

I decided to sign up for Ali Edward's Hello Story class at Big Picture Scrapbooking, because I basically love every single thing she makes, and I've been looking to be re-inspired to make paper scrapbook pages.

week 1: Timeline - SO much inspiration in Ali's content - I decided to make a photo timeline from when Bill and I started dating until current day. It was so fun to look through those old photos!

week 2: fill-in-the-blank - I had been planning to interview L about some of his "favorites" at age 5, so this seemed like the perfect format.

week 3: direction - Again, a perfect theme for my week - I had just finished my third week of the couch to 5K running program, and I wanted to document my motivations and the fun feet photos.

Well, it's week 6 now, so I'm feeling a little behind on creating layouts, but I'm still absolutely inspired by Ali's class!

Back, and ready for more blogging!

As mentioned in previous posts, I was feeling like doing Project Life replaced my need to blog, because that's where I was putting my energy for recording our family's story. Now that I have gotten into the Project Life groove, and spend less time pulling it together each week, I feel like I have a pocket of time where I can go back to blogging.

But why? I have no intention of having a huge "following", or to make my blog a money-maker, but I just miss having a place to record my creative endeavors. That's where the name of my blog originated, and that's what I'll be going back to now. My creations. That might include posts about scrapbooking, sewing, quilting, diy, cooking experiments, or who knows what else! So, if you're still reading my blog and will continue, thanks! I plan to be here more often - and I have quite a few things that I've made in my bloggy absence that I'll be sharing soon.