[ Ali Edwards ]

So this...(+ more info)

totally should have gone into my Christmas Art Journal. But I got excited, started punching Christmas cards and adhering and all of a sudden I was done. And it makes me happy, regardless of size or album location. Simple and easy, kind of like last year, but still its own creation.

Once again, my square punch has worked it's magic.

Edited: Ok friends, let's see if I can address some of your comments and questions on this one.

The punch I used for this layout is from Marvy Uchida. It is either this one or this one. The body of the punch is red and the width of the square on the punch is just a bit larger than 1.5 inches. Too bad they don't put the product number right on the punch.

Since I am all about simplifying I came to the conclusion that I do not need to keep all the Christmas cards I received this year. I loved getting them. I celebrated each one that came through the mailbox. And now that Christmas is over I would still like to have a bit of a record of the cards from this Christmas, but I certainly don't need to hang on to them all.

IT IS OK.

How do I decide which part of the card to punch? I think what I have always loved about punching is that I am taking a bit of something and bringing it together with other somethings to create an entirely new something. When I was punching I tried not to think too hard. I laid my punch with the metal side up, slid the card in, and moved the card around using the window as a guide. When I saw something that looked just fine and I punched. Some of the photos were too large to get everyone in the square and that was totally OK. My vision was to bring together a bunch of bits of this year's cards - not preserve each one in its orginal state.

How did I keep it all straight? I actually debated a bit about not lining it all up this time. But in the end, the lines won out. I think the secret to keeping it straight is by starting with one of the top or bottom corner squares. If you want you could even measure to make sure the distances are the same from the edge of the square to the top edge and the side edge. I have gotten so I can eyeball it pretty good. I also laid all the squares out before I started adhering to get a general idea where the "big" square would be placed on the 12x12 cardstock.

Did I scan and reduce the cards? Nope, just punched them as is - big or small I found something to punch and then moved on to the next one.

Hope that helps a bit!

Time.

In Chris' stocking this year was the current issue of TIME magazine (photo from Time to the left) - the one with Bono and Bill & Melinda Gates on the cover. Last night I headed upstairs to bed, planning to get to sleep at a decent time, picked up the magazine and read for the next two hours.

A totally fascinating read, the main articles go into detail about the work that the Gates' and Bono have been up to lately: trying to save lives.

There are some hilarious quotes in there from Bono. I was particularly interested in the stories of him visiting capitol hill and figuring out (or attempting to play) the game of politics in America & worldwide. He seems to have a knack for bringing totally random people together, getting them to focus on what needs to be done.   

After reading I had to get online (I waited until this morning) and revist the ONE Campaign. I rewatched the video a couple times. I also saw that they now have a blog. Cool.

In the article I also learned about the foundation that Bono started in 2002: DATA which stands for Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa. Lots to read about and learn on that site too.

Another part of the magazine I loved was seeing photos of Bill & George. Something about those two together makes me smile and giggle. I love the idea of putting aside the pettiness of politics. Something about those photos speaks to the human-ness of each one of us. Maybe I just like seeing life after being President. Who knows? I just liked it.

All this gets me pretty fired up inside.

As I was looking through TIME I was noticing lots of things that would be cool on scrapbook pages as a reflection of 2005. Statistics. Top stories. Words that became a part of our culture over the last year. Thinking I may have to use some of those on a layout. There was also an add in there (for I have no idea what) that had goldfish all over one page with a white background and the word LIFE in black. Ripped that one out as soon as I saw it and put it on my board this morning.

I am not sure you could read this issue and not wonder about your own role in the world. Back to that who are you and what are you doing with who you are question.

Anna Quindlen, you are just too darn cool.

Thanks for these super cool stamps Jenn. Edited: Those great stamps are from Wordstworth.

I was looking through my quote files tonight and came across this commencement speech made by author Anna Quindlen that I had seen/read earlier this year. I think it also appears in her book: A Short Guide To A Happy Life. Seems like a good time of year to share it:

I am a novelist.  My work is human nature.  Real life is all I know.

Don't ever confuse the two, your life and your work.

You will walk out of here this afternoon with only one thing that no one else has.  There will be hundreds of people out there with your same degree; there will be thousands of people doing what you want to do for a living.  But you will be the only person alive who has sole custody of your life.

Your particular life.  Your entire life.  Not just your life at a desk, or your life on a bus, or in a car or at the computer.  Not just the life of your mind, but the life of your heart.  Not just your bank account, but your soul.

People don't talk about soul very much anymore.  It's so much easier to craft a resume than craft a spirit.  But a resume is cold comfort on a winter night, or when your sad, or broke, or lonely, or when you've gotten back the test results and they're not so good.

Here is my resume:

I am a good mother to three children.  I have tried never to let my profession stand in the way of being a good parent.  I no longer consider myself the center of the universe.  I show up.  I listen.  I try to laugh.  I am a good friend to my husband.  I have tried to make marriage vows mean what they say.

I am a good friend to my friends, and they to me.  Without them there would be nothing to say to you today, because I would be a cardboard cutout.  But I call them on the phone, and I meet them for lunch.

I would be rotten, or at best mediocre, at my job if these things were not true.  You cannot really be first rate at your work, if your work is all you are.

So, here is what I wanted to tell you today:  Get a life.  A real life, not a manic pursuit of the next promotion, the bigger paycheck, the larger house.  Do you think you'd care so much for those things if you blew an aneurysm one day, or found a lump in your breast?

Get a life in which you notice the smell of the salt water pushing itself on a breeze over Seaside Heights, a life in which you stop and watch how a red tailed hawk circles over the water, or the way a baby scowls with concentration when she tries to pick up a Cheerio with her thumb and first finger.

Get a life in which you are not alone.  Find people you love, and who love you.  And remember that love is not leisure, it is work.  Pick up the phone, send an email, write a letter.

Get a life in which you are generous.  And realize that life is the best thing ever, and that you have no business taking it for granted.  Care so deeply about the goodness that you want to spread it around.  Take money you would have spent on beers and give it to charity.  Work in a soup kitchen.  Be a Big Brother or Sister.

It is so easy to exist instead of to live.  I learned to live many years ago.  I learned to love the journey, not the destination.  I learned that it is not a dress rehearsal, and that today is the only guarantee you get.

I learned to look at all the good in the world and to try to give some of it back, because I believe in it, completely and utterly.  And I tried to do that in part, by telling others what I learned.  By telling them this:

Consider the lilies of the field.

Look at the fuzz on a baby's ear.

Read in the backyard with the sun on your face.

Learn to be happy.

And think of life as a terminal illness, because if you do, you will live it with joy and passion, as it ought to be lived.

Anna Quindlen, you are just too darn cool.

A Very Merry.

I am one of those people that loves that Christmas is coming...and is just as happy to see it go. I have been known to take down all my decorations, including my tree, the night of Christmas. Yes, I am a little nutty. Certifiably so.

We had a very nice Christmas. Low key. Simple.

Christmas Eve dinner was with Chris' parents at their house. Feasted on turkey soup and the most fabulous crusty bread I have had in a long time. Opened presents and came home late.

This morning was awesome. I will never tire of hearing Simon's little voice shout presents as he tries to wiggle out of my arms. The Dora house was a total hit. After our immediate family morning we drove down south to visit and have dinner with Chris' grandparents. So nice and calm and just lovely. We all took little naps and chatted and ate and just enjoyed the presence of others.

And, I wanted to share a few things that have been making me merry lately:

• Stick pins with small pearls on the end.

• A lovely, refreshing drink concoction which includes equal parts cranberry juice, grapefruit juice, and mineral water with a slice of lime (courtesy of Body & Soul). Chris and I think it would be pretty tasty with a bit of vodka too.

• Homemade salsa from an old co-worker/friend back in the day:

14 oz jar diced tomatoes
1/2 chopped onion
1/2 jar diced jalapenos
1 bunch cilantro
juice from 1 lime
salt to taste

mix it all up in a food processor and you are good to go - tends to be even better after all the flavors have blended together.

• Red wine.

• TIVO - new to us as of today. My gift to Chris. He is giddy with excitement.

• Trying to stay on top of this whole simplicity thing - I find myself being very conscious of it as I go about my day. Asking myself, "do I really need this?" Trying to clean things as I go and not put them off until later. On Christmas Eve I took an entire car load of stuff to Goodwill. And there is still more. So many things we have are just excess. Feels good to be refocusing and being aware.

• This collage I bought from Navylane Studio. It is beautiful on the screen and amazing in person. Planning to get a frame for it tomorrow.

• Ribbons, ribbons, and more ribbons. I got some samples of these last week and can't wait to add them to my classes. 

• Having Chris work at home. At first this was quite an adjustment. I had gotten used to it being just me when I work during the day (and Simon is at school). Now that he is grooving on his campaign stuff, and I am back in the groove on my scrapping stuff things seem to be cruising along. I like having him here. I like having him happy even more.

It has been quite a year for us. Looking forward to reflecting a bit more on this as 2005 comes to a close this week. If you have not seen a copy of the January 2006 CK (February is hitting the stands now) my column is about scrapbooking your intentions for the new year. Might get you in the mood to reflect and look ahead as well.

Oh yea, and if you are wondering about my Christmas Art Journal...I got behind after my trip to Indiana and then needed to focus on other things. Still hoping to go back in and create some pages based on the awesome prompts I have saved.

Too Good Not To Share.

Sara sent this passage to me tonight and it is just too good not to share:

Christmas is a strange season.  When you're a child, it is a season of presents.  When you're young, it's a season of parties.  When you get your own home, it's a season of preparations.  But when you get older, Christmas changes color drastically.  Suddenly, out from behind the advertisements and big dinners, through the haze of old carols and soft candles, past the dazzling altars and sumptuous crib scenes, we begin to see what Christmas is really all about.  Christmas is about finding life where we did not expect it to be. Every year of life waxes and wanes.  Every stage of life comes and goes. Every facet of life is born and then dies.  Every good moment is doomed to become only a memory.  Every perfect period of living slips through our fingers and disappears. Every hope dims and every possibility turns eventually to dry clay.  Until Christmas comes again.  Then we are called at the deepest, most subconscious, least cognizant level to begin to live again. Christmas brings us all back to the crib of life to start over:  aware of what has gone before, conscious that nothing can last, but full of hope that this time, finally, we can learn what it takes to live well, grow to full stature of soul and spirit, get it right. There is a child in each of us waiting to be born again.  It is to those looking for life that the figure of the Christ, a child, beckons.  Christmas is not for children.  It is for those who refuse to give up and grow old, for those to whom life comes newly and with purpose each and every day, for those who can let yesterday go so that life can be full of new possibility always, for those who are agitated with newness whatever their age.  Life is for the living, for those in whom Christmas is a feast without finish, a celebration of the constancy of change, a call to being once more the journey to human joy and holy meaning. ( Sister Joan D. Chittister )

Now go back and read it again...there is so much there, so many different ways to read what is being said. Love the idea of rebirth - of the ability to make changes in our lives - the POWER to make changes, to begin fresh...I think my favorite line is, "for those who can let yesterday go so that life can be full of new possibility always, for those who are agitated with newness whatever their age."

Thanks so much for sharing this with me Sara.

Edited: And thank you Bec for giving me some additional information on Sister Joan - how very cool. Love being able to read more about people who inspire me through their words. Gives so much more context.

Workshops in 2006.

Also wanted to let you know that I have been scheduling lots of workshops around the country (and beyond) for 2006. You can see them here. There are a few more in the works that I will keep you posted on as the information is solidified.

For 2006 I am continuing to teach the Perspectives and Today You workshops and I am adding in two new classes just to keep it interesting. The first is a class I taught in the Netherlands last fall called Favorite Photos of 2005. The other, which will debut at Pien's in the Netherlands in February, is called Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow.

Sometimes...

Sometimes all you get is a blurry image, but you love and cherish it anyway. Loved hanging out with my friend Emily at Ruthie B's Antique Store for lunch and browsing yesterday. We had a great little lunch with a big dessert and then spent time just looking around at all the cool stuff in this store. It is always fun to go to antique junk stores to see what other people are attracted to - Emily has a great eye for printed materials. As for me, it is always about plain glass refrigerator dishes and wire baskets - things to put other things in of course.

Sometimes being away from family during the holidays is really hard. I have been missing my parents and siblings this last week. My Mom always did such a great job decorating our house for Christmas - setting the stage for the entire season. I have fond memeories of coming home from school to a transformed house. I loved that. It was magical. Wishing that we had the opportunity to spend time with them over the holiday weekend. Mom and Dad are gathering with my brother John and my sister-in-law Liz at their home in Washington. My sister is in Paris (love you Jess) and having a wonderful time.

Sometimes watching movies is just the best way to spend an evening. Last night we watched a couple more movies. Millions : good, good movie. Loved the message and the little boy in it is so adorable. Our second one was Mr. & Mrs. Smith - we were totally entertained with this one...more so than we thought we would be. It was cat and mouse and the quips about marriage were cracking us up.

Sometimes I just crave Sour Patch Kids. I think Santa needs to bring me some in my stocking. 

Such a cool kid.

I love this kid.

He is cracking me up more and more all the time as he seems to be communicating more effectively. Saying things that surprise me and make me do a double-take. These are my favorite types of double-takes.

This photo shows one of his Christmas gifts (or birthday) from last year. It seems that whatever he receives doesn't get tons of love until about a year later (something we are trying to change this year). It is hard to tell with him what he will be in love with, what is developmentally appropriate, etc. What is really cool about this - the hat and the goggles - is that he actually wanted to put them on (got them out of his toy basket on his own and asked for help in putting on the goggles). In the past he has not wanted the glasses on his face...but now, he is all over these guys. And of course, I was all over the camera.

He calls himself "Bob" - as in Bob the Builder - and pretty much what he wants to do is look at himself in the mirror and then take them off. So, so cool.

I had a couple emails from people yesterday wondering what Santa will be bringing Simon. Yesterday I had typed up this whole post about what has been happening with Santa and then I lost it. I hate it when that happens. The just of the post was that we had been back to the same toy store three times trying to decide between an entire Thomas the Tank Engine set-up (moving from the plastic tracks to the wood) and a house from Playmobil.

He loves Thomas. They are his favorite. And we are well aware of this fact. Our worry was that we would be feeding into an obsession rather than encouraging some diversity in his toy selection here at home. And besides all that he loves what he has right now (keeping it simple right?).

As for the Playmobil house, we were hoping to support him more in imaginative play with people. In the end though, I think he may not be completely ready for this developmentally.

After continued deliberation, and leaving the store for the third time without a "big" present we decided to go a completely different route. When we were driving home Santa and I started talking about what else he loves right now, and how what he loves and repeats tends to come from what he watches on video. And right now it is all about Dora and Diego. We like that he seems to be learning stuff from those shows and he is so excited about them. So Santa will be bringing him the Dora house (with a couple accessories, like the backyard) which satisfies Santa's desire to get him working on imaginative play in a home-environment and his desire to have him receive something that he will actually love and play with. And we got the last one at Toys-R-Us. Awesome.

My sister recently sent him the Dora floating bath toy which has been a total hit around here - it has made him become excited about taking baths again.

Another toy Santa brought last year that is finally getting some use is the My First LeapPad. Last year he got the Wiggles and Thomas books and just last week he was starting to get it (pushing the green go button, turning the pages with the sounds, etc.). Santa will also be bringing the Dora book this year.

Other than that there will be little things. A Dora coloring book. Wiggles slippers. A recorder. Bubbles. Hungy Hungry Hippos game. A book about monkeys. And a couple Thomas magnet books.

Excited to see his reaction Sunday morning. Excited to get to share in that overwhelming joy.

Scrapping & Santa.

Busy today scrapping for work and visiting with Santa. He found some sweet stuff for Simon today.

Hope you are having a good day - keeping it simple - and if you need a pick-me-up I highly recommend a gingerbread latte from Starbucks. Had one last night and all I can say is mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Peace.

Here & there.

I've been jotting down things on little notes all over my desk the last week or so to share. No scrapping today - took a break - hung out. My parents stopped by. They brought freshly caught crab from the Pacific ocean. I cleaned, cracked and picked it just now. Seriously, very few things beat fresh Dungeness crab.

Things on my mind:

• Bus Project : it has been awhile since something has really inspired my politically. The idea is simple "drive Oregon to be a progressive example for the nation. Engage, educate, and elect. That’s our mission."Click here to read the history. I have had the pleasure to meet some of the people involved recently and to hear Jefferson Smith (the dude behind the idea) speak. Seriously inspiring. This is grassroots politics - getting young people involved and excited and wanting to talk politics and educate others and decrease the apathy that is so prevalent these days -  proving that volunteerism is not dead in America. I will not be surprised to see the bus moving across the nation...

• 2006 Scrapbook Hall of Fame Contest  : ok, if you are not a scrapbooker this probably sounds like one of the silliest things ever. But since I am guessing that many of you out there are probably scrapbookers this is something that may be of interest to you. Each year Creating Keepsakes magazine holds a contest called Hall of Fame. And each year they select 25 scrapbookers who are showcased in an idea book. I was one of the 25 people selected in 2003 (Totally cracked up looking at my photo and layout). And for me, it really did signal the beginning of my relationship with the magazine. If you have ever considered it and then thought, "nah, I couldn't do that..." I want you to reconsider. Forget the hype and the drama and any fear you may have - do it simply as a challenge to yourself. And do it because you love scrapbooking. And because you love telling your stories. And because you know that whether you are selected or not you are still a creative soul who is telling the stories of your family and having a wonderful time playing and creating in the process.  Deadline February 9.

• Born Into Brothels + Kids With Cameras : watched it the other night. Consider it a must watch. Especially for people who love photography, who love celebrating creativity, who are interested in the world we live in, who love kids. It is at the same time heartbreaking and inspiring. Highly recommended.

And one more thing: When I was at an event sponsored by the Bus Project early last week I wrote down a note to myself:

who are you and what are you doing with who you are?

Just something I want to throw out there. Thinking about kids and politics and contests and volunteerism and getting out the vote and scrapbooking and poverty and the world in which we live. Who are you in this world? What is your place? Where have you been? Where are you going? What do you need to do to get you there? Are you living the life you want to live? And, if not, maybe this is the time to do something about it.

Traveling around this year has impacted me tremendously. I have a different world-view than when I began 2005. I believe I traveled more in the last 12 months than I ever have combined in my 30 years of life. There are so many things to see. So many people to connect with. Ideas to be transformed. Realities solidified. Dreams to be created & realized. Permission to be given. Photos to be taken. Words to be written. People to be helped and healed and comforted.

Simply remembering that we are each human. Each with passions and saddness and desires and dreams. What can we do to help each other along the way...locally and globally and within our families.