Off and Rolling

Yep...off and rolling and that is a good thing. My circle journal has left the station and is on it's way to it's first stop - Jen. Thank God! I loved working on my journal, but it gets to the point where it just needs to be gone and out of my sight. I was driving myself nuts. I couldn't let it sit. There was always one more thing I could do. I wanted to change this and that. YIKES! For sanity sake it had to leave. With saying that...let me add that I am very happy with how it turned out. I had stressed about the design before even attempting to do it. There are amazingly talented and creative girls (Aleida, Amy, Anne, Anilu, Dawn, Greta, Jennifer, Judi and Michele) involved in this project. Check out their layouts and projects and then you will understand my trepidation. (Ohhh...big word on a Friday. I hope it means what I think it does. LOL) Well...here it is:

The cover:

Inside Intro Page.

Indroduction/Rule Page. There are no rules.
Cover Page for my section. Each participant has a tabbed cover page.

My layout all about my favorite subject...me. Oh gag.

The pages in between these two photos are for the other's layouts.

The Back.

That's all folks. The next time you see it I will show all the layouts done by all those wonderful girls. Hope you don't mind the ten month wait. :o)

Step This Way...

The garden tour continues. My friend, Anne, asked to see more photos of my gardens. Happy to oblige I went outside to take photos. Came inside and couldn't believe my eyes. My poor neighbors...it took photos for me to see the weeding that needed to be done. I deleted those photos and got to work. I see I still missed a few weeds, but they are violets and I feel they deserve a fair chance at surviving as they are pretty. Good excuse for me not wanting to bend one more time. This garden path is on the opposite side of my yard as the previous. Seems I was for "Going Green" before it was trendy. The stepping stones are recycled from when I had the front sidewalk re-done. The planters on the left of the photos...empty at the moment...are another free find from the shopping center. They will be filled with impatiens to add a bit of color to all this green. It's a tricky area to plant as it is full shade and the ground is saturated with tree roots. I filled it with different varieties of hostas, coral bells (which you can't see in this photo), sedum and hydrangea. It really needs to be mulched, but it will do for now. I won't be bending anytime soon due to the weeding and the generosity of my neighbor. Yes, my neighbor is a landscaper and gave me three million new plants this past weekend. I have been on a gardening frenzy. My body HATES me. Usually it is the other way around.

It's Circling.....

Here it is. Proof that I do scrapbook in the summer. Proof also that my camera has been flung across the room. I had spent a large portion of the day weeding and taking photos to post here. However, tonight I hooked up the camera and Windows sent me a message that it isn't recognizing my USB. Well...it must be recognizing it or it wouldn't have sent me a message. It's just being lazy and, since I can't unhook the computer cables conveniently in order to fling it out the window, I will take my wrath out on the camera instead. Don't worry the love (and patience) will return tomorrow. Therefore, until then here is my circle journal. Blue and brown with a bird. Does it get better than that? Yes. It. Does. LOL! Now, if you are not familiar with what a circle journal is, it bascially is a journal that travels from person to person each adding a layout fitting the theme of your book. Pretty cool. At the end you will have your journal back filled with layouts made by each of your friends. Can't wait...since I am playing with the most talented and creative people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Ever.

What's the Story, Morning Glory?

I tend to slow down on making scrap layouts and projects in the summer. Instead I turn my attention to gardening. Until I get a layout done, here is a portion of one of my gardens. Creativity...garden style:

The photo above is a gravel path I made by myself...no one was dumb enough to volunteer time helping me gather up my free finds. I have smart friends! LOL! The stepping stones are slabs of granite that used to be a wall in an old Snyder's Drug Store. I work in the management office of the shopping center, so I laid claim to half. Ahhh...the perks of working for the landlord. The gravel was obtained when the center's parking lots were being resurfaced. I brought home three pick up truck loads full. Shoveled them in the truck and out with my own two hands. I know...be impressed with my prowess. Gag. The rocks lining the path were free, too, but I had help gathering them. Once people know you like rock they appear out of nowhere to give you all they have. They will even deliver them to your house, if you smile and buy them a case of pop (or drink of choice). Lastly, all the flowers were found via friends, neighbors or freebies sent with online orders. Oh and yes...that would be a stack of tires on the left hand side. Those were donated by my brother when he took off and ran to live in Seattle. He can come back and claim those any time he wants. However, for now I am pretending they are stacked art or a garden seat. I also have a tire hanging on the fence behind where the photo was taken. I filled the bottom with dirt and it now is a container garden. Last year it held coleus. This year nothing. As soon as I plant it, I will post a photo, but for now it is u.g.l.y.

In case you are wondering what drives me to garden, here it is. First, I come from a family of gardeners. My grandma could have been regarded as a master gardener, my great uncle, Russell Johnson, was a professor of biology at Bethel College and my uncle worked for Northrup King seeds for many years until his retirement. Somehow having a link to all these green thumbed people allowed gardening to seep into my blood. However, this drives me more than all that put together. Behold, my neighbor's front yard:

You should see her back yard. I have garden envy. She has a son with bobcat skills. I have bobcat skill envy, too. LOL! Seriously, give me a bobcat and a bit of training and the ideas that are stuck in limbo inside my head would finally be a reality. That would get expensive and scary! Anyway...a few of my neighbors have massively large green thumbs. All this competition gets my blood a-boiling. Game on neighbors...game on.