Ethnic Scrapbooking

Organizational SUCCESS!

Okay, for me, January is all about organizing!  My purse is noe organized, I bought a Day Runner, now my calendar is now organized along with my "TO DO" Lists.  I had big goals to organize the fridge and pantry too.  For those of you who ask me how do I do it?  Well...I'm not afraid to ask for help.  My neighbor, Tenisha swooped in late one Monday night and revamped my pantry.  Now we can clearly see what we don't have!  I re-organized the fridge door using a 15 minute timer (even though it took 30 minutes  to complete).  Here's the proof.

Nothing frustrates me more than NON-Drinks on the TOP SHELF!  And way must any household have TWO jars of minced garlic!

Did you know I hate condiments...because they TAKE OVER my fridge door.  WHY must we have 6 jellies open at once.  There were 4 ketchups...3 were empty and there were something like 9 salad dressings.

Before and after photos only tell part of the story.

In the end...tackling these two areas gave me peace of mind.  My organizational goal for February is to tackle those 10,000 images on my computer!

Another Lisa/Lisa Crop

We had another batch of dedicated scrappers hit the studio this weekend.  Ann got caught up on her son's school day pages, Lisa showed us the new cuttlebug & cricut machines.  Michelle and Carolyn got some pages done.  Manon (not pictured, because I forgot to take the group photo before she left!) got to meet us all in person and I think found a new running buddy in Lisa.  Lisa's Aunt Pat, came completely organized and ready to crop...she made the first make-n-take.  Good ole Barbara stopped by and shared her brand new CROP-a-DILE....I LOVE THIS TOOL some one send me a Michael's coupon quick.  Dennine jumped some hurdles to make it to the crop and we are glad she did.  I got to catch up with my favorite CM UL Michelle and show her how the other half lives and professional organizer Anika was there and I watched her complete a bunch of pages in a short amount of time.  This is how REAL WOMEN SCRAP wink wink.

Most importantly my kids were here all day and weren't too much of a pain...shoot I even took Jonathan to track practice and walked a mile and stretched with his team...LIFE is GOOD.

another perspective

sometimes i really get sick of hearing the same old iraq stories on every news station.  yesterday i heard this lady and i was glad to hear another perspective. visit americancongressfortruth.com

411 & 911

Yes it's finally here, the January Sistah Crop.

Click here for the 411 - Download january_27th_crop.pdf

911   HELP

I'm feeling overwhelmed with my digital images...please share your organizing tips...specifically printing...what websites do you upload your images to, how can you do bulk uploads?  It's weighing very heavy on my mind about my year and a half worth of photos have not been printed, although half have been archived off the computer.

New Business & Favorite Christmas Gift

New multi-culturally owned scrapbook business opens its doors.  Check it out...if you place an order please put my name in as a referrer in the comment section.  Scrapbook Takeout , I'm really digging their rubberstamps...one of the heart designs reminds me of the Sankofa adinkra symbol.

I'm really focused on preserving handwriting for some reason.  Maybe it's because I've just written an book and I did not write one sentence of the book in my own handwriting...isn't that sad.  I didn't even keep the old versions of my text...I used redlining and then accepted changes.  The best Christmas gift I've ever been given is from my Dad's sister, she gave me a recipe from my Grandmother in her own handwriting....As soon as I (organize) find my photos of my Dad making the nutrolls I'm going to include the hadwritten recipe and create a special layout to hang in my kitchen...I need you to hold me to my word and ask to see it when you come to visit.

Gotta try it!

I love to listen to Christian talk radio.  Today, I heard Greg Vaughn discuss his book on Family Life Today, Letters from Dad.  This is not a "scrapbook" per se...but us scrapbookers will really connect with this message.  In this day and age of e-mail future generations might not have anything with our handwriting.  Specifically this book is a "How-To book"for men to write letters to their families...but it's one we all should take to heart...to leave something tangible for others to hold onto.

Go to www.familylife.com and hit the red go button to hear the broadcast.

I'll be adding this to my 2007 To Do list, to get my Dad and my husband to write letters to each of my kids.  Over the holidays I was showing off my Grandfather's handwriting...it was on a canceled check of his.  It's the only written thing I have of him.  I thank God that I have terrific childhood memories of him, but what a treasure it would be if I had a handwritten letter directed to me personally.

Here's my Grandfather Ernest and Grandmother Ethel with me on my Christening Day.

The layout I submitted to the Real Women Scrap contest is on-line, follow this link.

Happy Scrapping New Year!

Happy New Year to all of you!

I ended the last year by connecting with my first scrapping buddy, Ann after not having seen her for two years...she couldn't get over the Grandma thing (LOL)!  I started the New Year with family and friends and my new adopted sister Lisa Young (my folks just love her cooking..they want a trade...HA).

I had a ton of year end projects I wanted to do, but with a house full of people I didn't get them all done, but I got enough done that I don't feel that pain of stress in my shoulders so that's good.  Before you sit down and make up your list of resolutions, categorize them first.  I have a list of scrapbooking projects I want to do, a list of marketing opportunities for my new book, household goals, Health changes and geneaology projects.

Now that I have my categories, I assign dates...this really helps propel me to the finish line.  For instance, the few geneaology goals I have need to be done by August 12, our family reunion. Health changes:  Hired a personal trainer to devise an exercise plan...he'll be here on Friday morning! UPDATE...we met and drafted a plan of action!

After you assign the dates, write down at least 12  things you accomplished last year for motivation so that you don't feel depressed after making that long list (by the way keep it to 3 items per category). YOU CAN DO IT.

Folks ask me all the time, "How do you get so much done?" I have a couple of responses.  One, I'm not afraid to ask for help...for instance I love to host crops but I hate to deal with the food and games so my scrapping buddy Lisa Young handles that part (and much more).  My pantry is a MESS...found out that my neighbor is a pantry organizing guru...so guess who's coming this weekend. Two, I use a timer...if I'm going to check e-mail, blog or surf the net...I set the timer for one hour...when it goes off...off to the next task.  The biggest waster of time...the T.V.  turn it off or at least do something else (besides eating) when you watch it...just got a flat screen in my scrap room...ask Lisa Y.  it slowed me down the first night.

WHAT ARE YOUR SCRAPPING GOALS FOR 2007?  Please leave a comment and let me know so that I can cheer you on.

OTHER NEWS:

MARK YOUR CALENDAR...The Scrap Diva's are hosting a crop Feb 24th...go to www.thescrapdivas.blogspot.com for the details...but also plan to stop by and see me at Karibu Books Afrocentric Book Fair at P.G. Plaza in Hyattsville first.

Some of you have asked for the link to the train ride it's www.wmsr.com the trips start again in the spring.

I WON!
I don't usually enter scrapbook contests but I entered this in the 11th hour, just because I wholeheartedly connected with the book (Real Women Scrap).  I'm sharing this with you just to let you know that real full-time working women CAN complete keepsake albums for your family no matter what your income, lifestyle or marital status.  If I can do it SO CAN YOU.  So go ahead and make that New Year's Resolution to get your photos and memories organized.

check out the announcement  and what I won by Clicking Here