A good day…

More about that later…

Inspiration…

…There are so many that inspire me these days. Ali Edwards in her Yesterday and Today class. I enjoy that class so much. For me it is not so much about making the layout here and now, but to embrace her teaching. I love how she present her message and she has a great way of telling us there is no wrong way to do this. I like that she understand and act upon the fact that her students are in different stages of their life. That makes room for everone`s preferances. And even if I don`t make the layouts, she is inspiring me. And I look so much forward to work on this later on.

Also May Flaum in her fun class – Adventures in Scrapbooking. In so many ways these two girls are teaching us the same thing. To document everyday life and to embrace the imperfect. Ali with words and classy design and May with her fun design and playfulness. It is so clear to us all that both of them love what they do.

I have been scrapbooking all day long and overlooked everything on my to do list. When inspiration hits, you go with the flow. You might think that I am a year behind since I am working with last years Christmas photos – but I am not.

Elin Marie is taking the Car on a test drive December 26 2008. And of course there is a dog who needs a hug or two…

I made an album with Shimelle`s class – Journaling Your Christmas last year. When January arrived I was fed up with Christmas. While the JYC album was more about getting ready for Christmas and less about the Christmas celebration I now feel a need to work with some of all the photos printed. And it was fun to work with the new line of Christmas paper, since I only bought three of them last year:)

Last December baby Elin went with grandma and grandpa to get the Christmas tree. And yes the tree need to be quality tested. Look, feel and taste.

Outside my window one hour ago. But, it`s all gone now and I`m so okay with that. It is supposed to be a lot colder as we enter the first week of December. I rather have the cold than snow. Okay, it is time for me to go to work.

The best wishes for the weekend.

One step ahead…

I did not plan to but I have cleaned all my windows. That is a totally wast of time because now it`s raining and tomorrow they are dirty again. But – they are cleaned and I am not doing it over again. I have to climb out on the roof to clean on the outside. It is not safe to do when there is wind and rain, and impossible to do when it`s snow and ice.

I think it`s time for me to wrap those advent calendar gifts before I eat it all myself…:) Okay – it is time for work.

The end of the weekend…

… The last Sunday before the advent celebration start. The last Sunday wasting time. But, I have enjoyed myself wasting time. And in my book that has to count for something. I have travelled the world blog hopping. Starting in Australia and back again to Australia. I had so much fun reading all these new blogs and looking out the window all over the world. If you haven`t taken the trip you can go to Helena where it all start. I promise you will enjoy your trip.

Yesterday I wrote that few American knew where Norway was. I was not talking about the American Scrapbookers. They travel the world all the time through online classes, forums and blogs. We do learn a lot connecting with each other, don`t we?

Even if I did make a Christmas journal last December I have lots of photos that need to make it into the albums. And I enjoy playing with the Christmas papers. I have never done much of that. Always thought it was a wast of money buying all that Christmas stash. Now – I couldn`t help it, I just had to get some of the goodies. And I am working to get some layouts from last years Christmas into the albums.

 

Second Sunday in advent 2008. The kids are beginning to feel the excitement of Christmas.

 

Christmas Eve. For baby Kristian tools where a big hit last year. He is such a boy. He is crazy about tools.

 

 

Ella Publishing have a page call. They challenge you to take one of their sketches and rework them into a two page layout. Both sizes and cards are welcome. So – if you want to get published the submission date are December 1. I liked the sketches so I`m using one of them for some Christmas photos. Almost finished, but it`s dark and almost impossible to take a good photo at this time of the day.

Thanks to everyone doing Shimelle`s blogging class. It has been so educating and fun.

Christmas 1982…

…The short story: A long way from home and no money.

December 23 I finished work 15 minutes before the shops closed. In my small apartment there were no sign of Christmas at all so I was looking for something that would get me a little Christmas spirit. These two Santa figures was it. The shops were totally empty. The change from 1982 to 2009…When shops close on December 23 they are still fully stocked with Christmas stuff – sold at half the prize a few days later. So – what do we do with all the Christmas stuff?

I still have these two. It`s not that I like them or love them but they are a part of my story I can`t let go of.

This guy I do love. Because my nephew gave him to me at Christmas in 1998 – the Christmas Eve we celebrated at Iverhjelen. And because he is funny. Not beautiful but funny:) I have unpacked all the Christmas stuff and put everything into three categories. One to go, one to stay and one maybe. The last category pile is a little larger than I like. I have to work on that tomorrow. And I need to clean out the closet where everything have been stored. That has not been done for… like forever. Then I have to make a plan for how I store everything back in.

I slept in this morning. 10 hours of sleep and it feels like bliss. When I finally woke up I was met by this beautiful sight ouside my window.

We have had the most amazing weather so far in November. Cold clear weather. That is not the norm. Yesterday an old man told me that if the weather turned in a spesific way now it would turn ugly for December. Let`s hope it turns the right way. A shitty weather in December is no good for the Christmas spirit.

I`m off to work the late shift and I have the early shift tomorrow. The rest of the weekend I plan to finish organizing my Santa Clauses.  Love you – love you not. That should keep me going for the rest of the weekend:)

Saying hallo again…

Template – Paislee Press Plate. Paper – SEI.

…Hallo Christmas! Always excited to unpack the Christmas stuff when it`s been a few years. Last Christmas I jumped this step. I do that if it feels like adding to the stress and I am okay with that. The advent lights, some flowers and my Christmas cup is all I need to feel the spirit.

What more did I find where this stuff was hiding? Two shoes! …and no – they were not a pair:)

Organizing for Christmas…

…or planning to get organized…

I`m ready for Christmas. Yes I am. My house is clean – I`m ready. What ever I do from now on and until Christmas – I do it because I want to. Gifts? Maybe I will buy gifts or maybe I won`t. There is nothing I dislike more than buying presents. It`s okay if someone tells me what they want or what they need, but I really don`t like buying things for people. Things they don`t want or things they don`t like. I really admire people who have the ability to give the perfect gift, but I am not one of them.

I must have been traumatized as a kid because I do remember the first gift I bought on my own. (With money my mother gave me). I got  a wallet for my big brother. That evening my brother teased me saying that he knew what I was giving him. Of course he knew, we lived in a small community:) I never enjoyed giving gifts after that. I wonder if my brother have bad memories about this too, because for years he never owned a wallet.

As a reward for myself half way through cleaning the house I took the time to make a digital layout.

 Elin Marie on a break during her fieldtrip with her grandparents. Her boots were too small. At least grandma ment they were too small. Makes me wonder if that is a grandma thing? But, the girl was a trooper and she still had a great adventure.

This is a free template called Zora downloaded from Simple Scrapper. The background paper is from Jessica Sprague and the paper are Homestead Farm by J Edwards – Digital Designers.

I would like to join Anna Aspnes`s Album Magic at Renee Pearson. The class start today and maybe this is just the thing for my “Christmas Journal”. Still havn`t decided how I want to do my album this year. But I did get an online delivery with some beautiful Christmas paper from SEI. Lovely red with glitter. I want to start making pages now! What about you? Are you making a December album?

Christmas trends…

…Christmas is a lot about trends. One year you are supposed to fill your home with angels. The next year you have to fill it up with Santa figures of all sizes. The trend moves from shine brass to minimalistic glass. In between lilac, blue,  red and white. So – what do I do? I am not known to follow the trends:)

Last year I did not open the door to the storage room containing the Christmas stash. Since I have been on a quest to declutter  my home since early spring I am a little afraid of looking inside now. I know it is stuffed with Santa figures  in there and I really don`t feel like loosing them, even if I don`t want to put them on display this Christmas. Seems like a lot of work to take it all out just to put them back in. But – that is what I need to do – because I need to find the things I want to use. Hm…

I need a plan.

I have been reading through the handout in Elisha Snow`s photography class and like all photo classes – it is all about light.

Template – Story teller, Tiffany Tillman, Little Shoppe Design. Paper – Sue Cummings.

It is dark when I go to work and this is what I get when I come home. Me – I like the blue one down in the corner. And I love Santa. Sometime I want them all over the place. No free space without a Santa. Just not this year.

I guess I have a plan:)

The best gift…

I think it was in 1988, I got this Santa from Jan. Boys being boys, they didn’t always have time to do their best effort. But this one is really cute. There is no Christmas without this cutie hanging on the wall. In our family it was their grandma that was given the most of their homemade gifts. Proud grandma always displayed whatever they gave her.

This one inspired todays page;

Monday is deadline for getting the Christmas gifts in the mail, and working in a Supermarket with postal services means we have a busy weekend ahead of us. That forces me to go into work early today, and I won’t be home until close to midnight. Stressful times working in a supermarket this time of the year. But mostly it is fun.

Challenge ?

Kjellaug is a pro…, originally uploaded by elinjanne.

My gifts were easy to wrap, but how do grandma Kjellaug plan to wrap this one? And where does she hide the monster until Christmas?