Little Corner of Ania

Soo…I mentioned in last post that I’m now part of the ColorConspiracy design team…and I’ve now played with their papers for real…love the subtle graphic patterns… most of them are my fave kind of patterned paper – monocromatic or duotones..I find such papers quite easy to use :)

And, since there’s CHA going on atm (you probably do not want to miss the sneak peeks & chances on giveaways on the Maya Road blog by the way) I usually drop by TwoPeas to join their CHA challenges…which I did this weekend as well, putting my ColorConspiracy papers to good use :)

First out is this layout of my lovely niece…

Love the cleaniness of this layout, if I may say so myself *smile*.

The challenge was to use five photos on one project… well, five photos – check :p

I find these photo-die cuts cute..comes in different colors…figured I’d use yellow here. Figured it needed a little extra dimension so I added this red brad from Pink Paislee :)

Love the clean, red letters too, by the way – I can’t recall the brand..Scenic Route mayhaps?

And this flair button from PaperPlay’s perfect here! Just the right hue of blue + added splash of red :)

 

And then I joined this challenge that’s about using seven kind of different patterned papers….figured it’d be a nice way to familiarize myself with ColorConspiracy’s papers ;)

Look, I even hand stitched that tag! Which by the way was dolled up by a Craft Origine-stamp, by the way. And the bright, yellow tulle flower is one of the new releases from Maya Road this CHA, by the way.

And although all the papers are double sided, I made sure to not cheat – I did use seven different patterned papers here.

The colors of these papers makes me happy :)

And here’s my presentation over at the ColorConspiracy blog :)

 

Random scrapping thoughts: Before I joined ColorConspiracy…I was asked…but you’re mainly a shabby chic-kind of scrapper…? Hum. I really don’t consider myself a shabby chic kind of scrapbooker..when I hear shabby/shabby chic I picture a totally different style than mine to be honest…and still… I’ve gotten these kind of comments before too, about my style.

I dunno..maybe it’s the projects that I create in that style that’s the most memorable? Personally I like to think my style depends on the papers and embellishments I’m using, and the theme..the same goes for what I picture will fit the recipient if it’s a card or altered gift.. most scrappers I know find it difficult explaining or deciding what ones style is…me included.. nevertheless…I haven’t really had that much graphic papers in my stash before, so I’m really excited to see how I’ll do with these papers…whether it’ll really be different from what people picture is “me”, or if it won’t matter..I’ll still create what others picture as shabby…? :)

As there’s NSD and Mothers Day in the US, there’s lots of giveaways going on.

 

Crate Paper are giving away two $100 Crate products for a lucky commenter and the commenters mother. Just hurry here and leave a comment before Monday.

And as for Glue Arts, well, they seem to always have giveaways with each post. Right now you can have a chance winning this adhesive-kit seen above, plus some extras. And well, the DT is always filled to the brim w/spectacularly creative ideas and step-by-step instructions. It sure is intimidating being on that team! :p Nevertheless. You can find their blog here.

 

If you check the many scrapbookmanufacturers blogs this weekend I’m sure you’ll catch lots of stellar chances for winning giveaways and stuff.

 

Speaking of giveaways. Haha. This isn’t a giveaway. Or well, it sort of was, I guess. I finally got around to clean up my room *some* (unfortunately not all…sigh..lots of clutter and stuff here still!), and dropped four boxes of SB-stuff to the local Red Cross. Yay me and all, or something like that. Before anybody says “gee, how kind and generous”, well, not really, most were either really really old stuff (like, three year old stuff gathering dust on my shelves) and/or things I’ve received from various places for free and no longer needed. I’ve been wanting to unload this stuff for a while now but hadn’t gotten around to it until I did an interview w/the leader of the local Red Cross and she mentioned how they wanted to go more creative and stuff during the free activities they offer toddlers and their parents. I had to stop the interview and tell her something like umkay Im not sure if I should say this while I’m at work, so this hasn’t got anything to do w/the job, this is just me speaking personally, but would you like some SB-stuff to help pursue the creative goal maybe?

It was a lucky break, I mean, I’ve been pondering if they might want some of my stuff for their various activities (they do lots of really nice stuff for the local people) but not really dared ask them before thinking it’d be too silly, so when she actually said they’d want to arrange more creative stuff but hadn’t really gotten started yet I was like oyy here’s my chance after all :p

 

So if you have lots of unused SB-stuff making you feel bad and all (because it just sits there..like my stuff did), well, it really does make you feel much better to be able to give it away. Feel free to ask your children’s school/kindergarten (our kindergarten has gotten stuff before too), the local hospital, or the local Red Cross to ask if they perhaps would use any of this stuff…make room for more new sb-stuff! ;)

 

Images courtesy of Camera+ and Diptic

Have a lovely weekend…ours sure is, w/homemade chocolatecovered strawberries….mmmm! Totally delicious!

I got an email the other day, asking about how to become a member of design teams, and how I went about getting on them. When I was done typing out my lengthy answer to her, I figured I could share it here on my blog as well, in case anybody out there were wondering too.

First – NO, I am NOT an expert. Second, all my permanent design teams have been applied for, I’m not “special” enough to have been headhunted for…(apart from 3ndypapir, the Norwegian manufacturer that I still design for, whee :)). Thus I can only answer for myself. But, I do remember wondering “how can I enter this world of design teams” back in the day, and thinking why really bother, it doesn’t help applying, they’ll just pick names or friends and stuff… maybe so in some cases, but guess what, some of them also did pick people like me, which means it’s actually works applying for stuff. Does it help having been on other teams - once you "get in"? I guess - at least it tells them you've been at it and knows what it's about and proved you can do it? But I don't think it's all - I cannot tell how the companies think, and I am sure they have a lot of different reasons and tastes and ideas of how they want their team to be, but.. Some want a certain number of new, fresh designers, some are intent on having varied scrapbooking-styles within the team, and so on.... they've got different reasons, just as we all have different styles and tastes.. And me? I still feel lucky, I still hold my breath, I still get disappointed, and I don't consider myself particularly special - sometimes I am thinking that hey, I’m filling the teams “regular-scrapbooker-quota” ;) So, here’s my personal experiences and thoughts...laugh at it all you want :p

Personally I just submitted to calls I found interesting...there are extraordinary artists that gets asked directly, but I'm not in that league :) So I don't really know what the "magic" way of becoming part of a design team is, other than just to submit when there are open calls and cross fingers.

Both PubCalls: http://scrapbookcalls.typepad.com/callsandcontests/ , ScrapScene: http://www.scrapscene.com/ and the 2peas The Pub - forum: http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/mb.asp?cmd=list&forum_id=42 are all great sources to keep tabs on current calls, and if you have specific manufacturers in mind, participating in contests and challenges and calls they host is a nice way to get their attention. Take Crate Paper, they have chosen guestdesigners who excelled in their contests in the past, and even included them in the regular team. So you never know :)

Unless it's specified, it's not mandatory having a blog, but some DTs do prefer that their members have their own blogs. If you don't have a blog nor the need to keep one on a regular basis, having at least a resume blog would be a good idea (mine is at http://aniasresume.blogspot.com) with a little about yourself, your past experience/publication list if you have any and your best projects featured. Having an updated gallery at twopeasinabucket.com or scrapbook.com is also a good idea, that way you can link to them when you submit for DT calls.

I do believe it's a huge plus to be published, and I have to admit I'm not that good to remember to submit to these calls (I prefer the close to instant gratification of being able to post things immediately on my blog, not to wait 6-8 months :p). But if you can submit stuff for publication and get them picked up then great! Make sure to keep track of your pubs and post them in your resume :)

When submitting to calls, here's a few important things (I think - I do not really know, so I may be wrong):
1. Read through the call carefully, and make sure to remember to answer all their questions.
2. Read the instructions for projects carefully, often they will specify that they want only 3 layouts, or 3 layouts and one card, or something like that. Adhere to their rules. Double-check if they ask you to submit certain sizes (width or file size) and keep within what they ask for. I usually add a couple closeup-shots as well, I have no idea if it’s something that’s approved of or not.
3. If you apply for a manufacturer, try to add at least one or two projects which uses their stuff. It'll show them what you're able to do with their stuff.
4. Provide well photographed images. It's important because the quality of the images does matter - it doesn't help if you have beautiful layouts when the photographing is bad so that noone can see how beautiful or amazing your stuff is.
5. If you apply for a manufacturer I personally believe it's important to love their products. Remember that you're going to create stuff with their products, where's the fun in it when you don't feel their style fits you, or even if you don’t really feel like using their stuff but “have” to? Think: would I buy their products in the store? Yes or no?
6. Read the requirements carefully. Make sure you can give them what they require from you (for example, some kit clubs require that you need to be active on forums, galleries, post a lot, create a lot of projects with tight deadlines…other require 5-6 layouts with written tutorials every month - are you sure you can give them that amount of your time? Do you actually scrap that much and that fast?) I've seen too many designers get too quickly burned out because they seemingly have taken on too much, and then just lost interest in the hobby. I have friends who loves to scrap, but once they joined design teams lost the will/drive to scrap, and only refound the love of the hobby when they quit/cut back on the teams. Simply put: make sure that you can commit to the requirements without them being too much for your personal time. Remember to have fun too, otherwise it’ll just feel like a chore, or even worse, a chore you in the end don’t want to do.
7. Once you get into a team, remember what's required from you and deliver your projects on time. If you can't deliver things on time, do let the team leader know in advance - I believe in communication :)

Well..that was my personal thoughts on the subject anyways, and well, we all have to start somewhere, so just take the plunge, go for it and try out. Unless you’re superduperawesomelytalented (them bastards :p) you don’t get picked if you don’t at least try, sorta :)

Now, over to a happy personal note: I’ve got myself a job :) The local newspaper, which I currently freelance for, actually wants me to work for them fulltime. So come April (actually, a week into April), I’m going to be a journalist for reals (actually, I’ll be responsible for their culture content. Oy.). The masters degree which I am working on atm will not be forgotten, the plan is getting most (preferably all) of the data I need for my masters degree gathered before I start the new job so that I’ll be able to work on it while working…and at least finish it after my time with them ends (I am filling in for someone who’ll be gone for five months). I’m both happy, humbled and nervous, all at once. Most happy I think.

09.02.11:

listening: to the annoying hum from about 11 computers (I'm sharing office with like 10 other students. The Universitys computer-park sooo needs to get upgraded soon)
eating: rundstykke med smøreost :)
drinking: a bottle of water (love the watermachine at the univ) + a cup of regular tea
wearing: a kind of thermal shirt I got for Christmas from my dad, deep plum in color with nice lines, I love it because it actually looks nice and keeps me warm :) I need more of this kind, I hate to be freezing..
feeling: sort of apprehensive
weather: cold, but not too cold. At least it's not snowing nor raining...yet
wanting: unlimited access to money...yeah..that would surely be nice ;p
needing: to get my todo-list for today done...
thinking: that I need to wrap this post up so I can continue on my work ;p
enjoying: being alone in this office..for now..(as of 9am anyways)
wondering: whether I should make some stuff for Valentines or not, hmm..we do not "celebrate" Valentines, but I have to admit I find the idea and just the making of cute stuff sort of nice..

08.02.11:

listening: To the kiddo chat with his cousin via FaceTime while playing together in WoW :p
eating: Cupcakes from Eat my Muffin <3
drinking: water…coffee
wearing: BRAND NEW RED WELLIES!!!! (don’t worry, I’m wearing clothes too :p)
feeling: happy that the wellies were 70% off (the first store didn’t have my size in, and the second one had – with 70% off! YEY!)
weather: alternates between raining and snowing
wanting: the snow and ice gone so I’ll have one less argument/excuse to not take walks……
needing: a haircut..and maybe try bangles?
thinking: that every time I get my hair cut (which’s admittedly once in a blue moon..like, once a year) I always keep thinking that it’ll be nice to save up for long hair….
enjoying: that the kiddo is rebonding with his cousin
wondering: why once I think I have what I need/can do with what I have, it turns out I need more?? My favorite jacket is a bit unuseable now that the zipper isn’t working. It’s still cold outside so to be able to really close my jacket would be nice…sigh…need to go hunting for a new jacket when I get some money I guess :(

Ahh...it's 2.15pm and the NY Turkey is in the oven (I like cooking Turkey for NY/Jan 1st), the Waldorf salad is finished, the dessert (chocolate fondant - mmmh) ready to go when we'll need it and I'm pretty much done cooking for today. Just need to finish the stuffing (which will be cooked in its own pan, not inside the turkey :p) but needed more apples so am waiting for that. Going for a fruit-y-stuffing as one of the guests can't eat shrooms....normally I prefer shroom&bacon stuffing...yum :) The turkey is HUGE - we got one on 8kg (17.6lbs) and I think it's the biggest turkey Ive ever made....we don't have turkey that much kinda ..esp as we don't do Thanksgiving in Norway :p

Oh yes - I'm not sick anymore and I'm relieved because that meant I was able to cook & able to look at food without feeling queasy...yay! Think I'll be careful with the eating-part though...haven't eaten too much the last few days so I assume I shouldnt start eat a lot all of a sudden kinda...we'll see :)

As it's NY I figured I'd share some scrapping-resolutions I've been thinking about a lot lately..do share your resolutions too! :)

• Focus on journaling
  Not necessarily page-long novels, but I really want to focus more on the journaling and the contents of it. I've always had a problem with the journaling - what and where are usually fine, but when it comes to stuff like emotions and stuff..well....I've tried to steer clear of that kinda stuff or just been a lil careful with the words because..well I don't really feel like that kinda person and whatever I write looks so silly and so clicheish and stuff (you know when you think stuff through in your head and it sounds great and then you put it on the paper and you just go uh where's the hole in the ground because you feel embarassed about how utterly silly it sounds? kinda happens to me a lot :p) One way to solve it (to me anyways) was to write it down in English. I feel like I can distance myself from the "silliness" easier if I type in English. It's like some of the English songs which sounds totally cool and great but when you think about the lyrics and stuff and what it really means and translate it to Norwegian it just sounds silly/stupid. Sorry! :p Hrm. I'm kinda derailing here. Anyways. More focus on journaling - content/meaning. Not all pages needs journaling - I'm happy to do both - but when I do add journaling I will try to take more than just 1 minute on it (*cough*)
• More layouts with multiple photos
  I don't think I'm too badly off here - I think my layouts have had a nice balance between single & multiple photos lately. Still, doesn't hurt to not forget about this one. Besides....these days I'm all about using several small small photos. Yumminess!
• Include more of the surroundings in the photos
  I admit it. I'm a total sucker for closeups of my (adorable!!) kids. I mean, c'mon, look at them!! ;) BUT. I really knew this in advance, but I seem to have forgotten - then I got some old photos from mom some weeks ago and it all came back to me - I LOVE to be able to see the surroundings in the photos. Me as a two year old in my grandmas kitchen....the kitchen's just the same as it's always been all these years.. ahh..the lovely memories.. my recent layout to Pencillines (see above)...that's like 5 mins from my childhood-home, and I remember me and my sister cycling down that slope....I think the barn in the background's gone now...it's things like that I believe my kids will appreciate more than just seeing their own face for the umpteenth time when they grow up.....
• Be better with embellishments
  I sooo suck at embellishments! I see fancy layouts all around with clever and superb embellishmenting (??)... I wanna be better in that dep too!
• Use more colors
  I want to be more bold with colors, use more contrasting colors ... maybe have 3 or 4 maincolors or something like that....without it looking messy....! *smile*
  
• Play more :)
  Ok, that was my 2007-word but I think I could reuse that one for 2008 :)
  

That't it.... for now anyways..:)

These two layouts above - first one is for the Pencillines one - with sketch by Russian scrapbooker Olga Lvova! How cool! :D I find it intriguing..no sb-stores in Russia and stuff...check the page to see her tale and layout ..and all the other gals! :) I used dark brown cardstock, some Daisy D & Scenic Route leftovers, Jenni Bowlin rubons (bird), See-D (inque?) stamps and the ubercool journalingspot is from Eli ♥♥♥ The photo shows me one year old with my mom...dad took the picture...we were out strolling.. love this photo ...love scrapping old photos :)

The second layout is for Scrappedugnad and shows the kids+ the neighbourkid making Christmastree-ornaments... with one of them adhered to the layout :) 3ndy Papir was so nice and let us use some of their papers for this Challenge - which was to use Christmastree-ornaments as a part of your page :) My papers are from Lene Solhaug Design :) Thank you so much! :D You have until jan 9th to join this challenge :)

Happy New Year everybody :) Don't drink too much ;)

Kalkunen er i ovnen, desserten er klar (sjokoladefondant) til å stekes og Waldorf-salaten er også klar. Bare stuffingen og sausen gjenstår, men det fikses om ikke alt for lenge :) Årets nyttårskalkun er svær - hele 8 kilo...littegranne mye til ni voksne og to barn, men sånn går det når man shopper kalkun lørdagen før nyttår ;) Kalkunrester er heldigvis godt :)

Jeg er happy - føler meg frisk og håper jeg holder meg sånn nå :)
Ønsker dere alle en riktig fin kveld og et godt nytt år!! Ikke drikk alt for mye da ;)

Surfin' around I stumbled upon this cool site: Shootsac - a site devoted to some kind of camerabag..or well, a bag for your lenses - so that you can have "3-6 lenses and other shooting accessories safely and conveniently at your fingertips." Now, I don't have that many lenses or a real need to drag the two I've got all around with me all the time or anything, but I totally fell in love with this superchic one: Baroque ....the B&W one displayed in the header or the Jessica Claire one w/pink&mustard....jeje....one can dream no :) The maker of the bags, Jessica Claire, is one superb photographer - you just have to admire her work at her blog here (am fairly sure I've linked to her before - check out her site for the ubercool collection of locks and stuff. Totally stealin' that idea!).

Not much else to share atm - a layout I did for the M-finale and two cute pictures of Amalie - she just got her very first pink sunglasses and totally loved it - hogged it all the way in the store & rest of the day. The next day she put it in one of the drawers in the kitchen and it's been there since. Ohwell. At least we know where it is when we'll need it =)

Ps. Did I mention? I fancy 6x12! :)
And oh. Sometimes I wonder if I should try start spending more time at each LO made. Maybe I'll learn to love them more. Maybe they'll be so much better qualitywise. Maybe I'll be able to find and add that little extra to every one of them. It's like, I'm going from LO to LO so fast at times that I feel like I'm not giving each LO the proper ...uh...respect or honor or acknowledgement or whatever...but then again - I'm weird cause...it's just LO's...?? Does the time spent on each LO measure how good or fine or whatever they are.....boggle...sometimes it does, sometimes it doesnt.......or?? Hm. Jeje. I've got funny thoughts sometimes I know...

Ikke så mye å fortelle, men her kommer det en post lell ;p
LO'en her lagde jeg egentlig til ALi E's 20-utfordring - og så så jeg at den passet bedre til M-finalen enn den LO'en jeg egentlig hadde laget til den - der var inspirasjonen veeeeldig tynn :p Havna vel på en 8. plass ellerno, men det var som ventet - LO'ene mine var litt rare og i beste fall average så - og det er helt greit. Scrappingen min går litt i bølger, og avogtil er jeg litt rar (sier noen iallefall *fnis*) - i perioder scrapper jeg masse og er passelig fornøyd og så plutselig sitter jeg og lurer - burde jeg ikke bruke litt mer tid på hver enkelt layout?? "Respekterer" jeg ikke LO'ene tilstrekkelig når jeg bare fyker fra LO til LO liksom?? Burde jeg lagt litt mer omtanke hos den enkelte LO....kanskje LO'ene ville blitt mye bedre og finere og penere bare jeg bruker litt mer tid på de....hmm..... (ja, jeg sa jeg er litt rar avogtil som tenker sånn :p) ...men egentlig lar jeg LO'ene ligge her lenge da....et par timer mellom hver gang jeg gjør noe på de liksom (sånn innimellom alt det andre) - så det drar litt ut sånn pr LO da liksom...hmm... jaja. Obsessed much og definitivt rar :)

Ahh...the sun is shining, the skies are blue and the air is chill and crisp with a hint of warmer seasons - oh yes - it's springtime!

At 04.50pm yesterday I decided that hmm, the picture and papers I had would make a good layout for the sketch-contest at papirhylla.no which ended at 6pm. Right. I just needed two more pictures - so I speedied up and edited two more pictures & started painting (spilled paint on my desk, papers AND pants! grr1!), cutting and sewing. As it was afternoon still Amalie kept bugging me but I *had* to finish this layout in time, so I bribed her with some chocolate...bad mommy bad!! (to my defense...I was stressed!! *blush*). At 5.35ish I finished the layout after 45minutes give or take - and started to scan it. Noticed that the title didn't seem right (why do I always notice such stuff AFTER I've scanned stuff?), and after a confirmation from a friend at MSN I decided to change the title - thank god that MM stickers are so easy to remove/reposition! Scanned and stressed even more and at 5.50pmish I finally mailed this layout. Two hours later I got a message that I won! Woho. Haha. (okok, there were only 6-7 other layouts in that contest so :p)

What I learned?
1. Don't suddenly decide to join a contest an hour before while the kids are awake.
2. Don't scrap a 12x12 layout if you actually decide to scrap the contest afterall. TAKES TOO FIGGIN' LONG TIME TO SCAN!

Anyways. My sis & niece. Yes. That's a santa-hat she's wearing. It was taken a few days before Christmas. :p I love these papers by the way. Melissa Frances and Creative Imaginations Narratives (and Fancy Pants). Yummy. So perfect for those tender moments.

Monday means a brand new Em challenge! Wohoo! This weeks prompt was "I believe..." Well. I believe that things will be fine eventually..but I've never said that out loud - I'm too afraid to jinx that!! Hope I didn't jinx myself bigtime when deciding to scrap it o.O

Ohwell. New week, new possibilities. Have a nice week y'all :)

Ok! Et godt tips; Ikke bestem dere for å bli med på en konkurranse en time før fristen går ut!! ("det er jo bare så deg" fikk jeg høre..men! jeg mener det! denne gangen så! :p).

Altså; klokka ti på fem igår kikket jeg litt på bildet og de to papirene jeg hadde funnet frem til bildet og tenkte...hmm....dette hadde kanskje passet litt til Papirhyllas skissekonkurranse....som jeg tidligere egentlig hadde forkasta fordi jeg ikke ble komfortabel med skissen (blush). Men. Joda. Trengte to bilder til, så hurtigredigerte to bilder i samme serie, skrev de ut, fant et tredje papir, klippet til, malte på bildene (hvit kant - malinga ble sølt utover bordet/buksa...hva gjorde jeg? Malte bildekantene rett fra bordet...istedetfor å tørke opp...*stress* *blush*), kjørte frem symaskinen mens malinga tørka, funderte på åssen i huleste jeg skulle få sirklene på skissa til å passe pent inn i LO'en, fant frem coasterne jeg hadde liggende fra Imagination Project, stemplet og fiksa tittel. Klokka fem over halv seks ca - etter 45 minutter - begynte jeg på scanninga - men fant ut at tittelen bare ble helt feil (den skurret....:p), sjekka med Gyda/Katta på msn og joda, burde nok ha en ny tittel, fikk hjelp til den og bytta på tittelen og scanna på nytt igjen (takk gud for at MM stickersene er så lette å fjerne/flytte på). Ti minutter før fristen ble mailen sendt inn.

To timer senere fikk jeg beskjed om at LO'en vant - wohoo!! Var "bare" 6-7 andre LO'er som kom til den konken, men allikevel. Heh.

Ellers: Mandag betyr ny ukesutfordring fra Emily; denne gangen skulle vi skrive noe om "I believe..." Vel. Egentlig tror jeg ting ordner seg....tilslutt. Jeg tør bare ikke si det. Langt mindre tenke det høyt. Ja. Jeg er vel litt overtroisk akkurat der - tenker jeg det for høyt eller "selvsikkert" så ødelegger jeg bare for meg selv, ting vil ikke ordne seg da just because. Så. Håper jeg ikke har ødelagt for meg bigtime nå da, ved å SCRAPPE tanken...!! *yikes* :)

Ha en riktig fin våruke!! :)

Ps. Nå skal jeg lage bursdagskort til kompisen til Adrian. Traff på ham igår da jeg skulle hente Adrian hos farmoren og han utbrøt med en gang; "Har du klippet håret ditt? Jeg synes du så skikkelig fin ut nå!". Aww bless! Seks år og så veloppdragen og storsjarmør allerede! ;) Tror kortet han skal få skal bli litt fint jeg *smile* - Adrian skal i bursdagsbesøk hos ham idag :p
(Og nei, jeg tror ikke han var beregnende..han er jo bare seks..og han gjorde store øyne og utbrøt det spontant med en gang han så meg med et stort smil. *fnis*)

Ooo this one was funny. Funny because people keep commenting on my name. My full name that is. I've got a whoppin six initials. Yep. I used to have five...my sister has four...I used to taunt her because of that - and now I've gotten six. All thanks to Simen & our marriage ofc :p Why? I dunno. Mom's got three names - one surname, one middle and one lastname. Dad's got two. Or well, he added another middlename some years ago. Anyways. People always comment on my name once they get to know all of them. Some people think it's funny to memorize them all aswell. (A sure hit at some parties for some reason) Heh. My initials are AJCNSL. And here's my card for this week; a collage of distressed paperpieces, some chipboard & a handcut feltflower w/a pearl in the middle.

Ukas utfordring fra Emily var initialer. Våre initialer. Jeg har seks navn i navnet mitt. Seks initialer. Navnet mitt har alltid vakt litt oppmerksomhet såsnart folk har fått snusen i hele navnet mitt - det er visst artig med seks navn. For noen har det også gått sport i å huske alle navnene mine riktig. Heh. Da jeg og søs var små så "kranglet" vi og jeg ertet henne med at jeg hadde fem navn - ett mer enn henne. Nå har jeg seks, fordi mitt gamle etternavn ble skjøvet til mellomnavn da jeg giftet meg.

Takk for gårsdagens kommentarer - interessant å se at jeg visstnok er en digital purist. Godt å skjønne at det ER helt iorden å redigere bilder for å gjøre de bedre. Finere. Forhåpentligvis. Skal iallefall eksperimentere mer og sånn tror jeg :)

Alright! This layout is my contribution to this weeks Dare; "beauty in something overlooked". Well. Overlooked for sure. For months actually. Until it turned like this. Cool! And yes. That's a chair. Outside our house. Our old chair. None of us brought it back in again since last fall. Bad us! Bad! And look! The same chair also graces my new blogbanner. Lucky overlooked chair! Now. If anybody's clever enough to figure where the quote at the bottom of the banner comes from just go on.

Anyways. I've been blown out, floored, amazed, gaga'ing over photowebsites lately. I want to be a photographer when I grow up! Dang, there's so much lovely yummy eyecandy out there - links below in my norwegian text (lazy? yep). One thing they have in common? I see that I need to be better at editing, to believe that manipulating the colors of reality isn't that bad. Most of these photos seem to have some kind of filter - either lens or digitally added. They seem to be saturated aswell - and more. Hm. Once in a blue moon I've been able to capture such vibrant colors all by myself & the SLR (I think that's happened twice or mayyybe thrice to me) - but most of the time I need to edit the photos if I'm gonna be able to "spice" up the reality somewhat. Is that a bad thing? Good? As long as the photos will turn (even more) fabby in the end - it can't be that wrong? (and boom I've got that song "if it makes you happy" on my mind out of a sudden. yay.) What do you guys think?

Enclosing some photos from yesterday (sunday) aswell. Dang do I have cute kids or do I have cute kids? :pHva legger dere egentlig i ordet "bilderedigering"? Lenge har jeg tenkt det slik at bilder jeg tar gjenspeiler hvor "flink" jeg er med kameraet, og eventuell redigering kun går ut på å rette på farger og levels slik at motivet trer mer "korrekt" og naturtro frem. Og så cropping selvsagt - for utskrift - jeg har en tendens til å ville ha med meg det meste istedetfor å tenke så mye på komposisjon når jeg tar bilder - for jeg kan jo "bare" croppe bildet etterpå og dermed komponere det sånn som jeg vil da liksom. Avogtil kan det være nødvendig å fjerne uønskede objekter, men sånn er greit i nødstilfeller...og det er ikke så ofte jeg har giddet å gjøre det - har vel gjort det en fire-fem ganger i løpet av min "scrappekarriere" såvidt jeg kan huske.

Uansett - det jeg nå har listet opp har jeg tenkt er "akseptabel" nivå av bilderedigering... alt annet utover det, sånn som manipulering av virkelighetens farger og sånn nærmer seg litt mer juks og har vært ting jeg har vært fascinert av og prøvd noen ganger men følt var..ja...litt juks (det skal sies: et par ganger har jeg også tatt slike "fargekule" bilder en skulle tro var redigerte i fargene..men som bare har vært sånn når jeg tok bildene..usikker på hvorfor/hvordan..men det var kult :p) Men altså. Jeg føler jeg heller for å inkludere sånn "juks" og akseptere at det er tross alt en del av det å gjøre bildet mer attraktivt, mer lekkert, mer "eyecandy" og det må vel være lov avogtil..? Jeg blir fascinert av Jessica Sprague feks, utrolig dyktig med photoshop og hun får farger og skarphet til å bli utrolig vibrante og herlig digg. Og forleden dag sjekket jeg Rhonnas fotograf-linker, og my oh my - så utrolig mye lekkert eyecandy!! Sjekk feks Jinky Art, Tara Whitney og The image is found (jeg kom meg ikke lenger, måtte seriøst klikke meg gjennom ALLE bildene...sukk..har flere linker å sjekke fortsatt!).

Og ja. Selvsagt er de knallgode fotografer. Men - fargene, effektene...? Det må da vel være noe redigering innblandet? Og det er da vel helt greit er det ikke..? Jeg mener, grunnlaget, selve motivet...er jo reelt... so what om det da blir en forskjønning av virkeligheten - at virkeligheten ikke er såå saturated eller så sterkt og klart. Det er vel helt iorden avogtil. *prøver å overbevise meg selv om at det å leke i photoshop og deretter bruke det til scrapping er helt ok*

Bildene her er fra igår (søndag) og er litt redigerte (basically bruk av overlay) - men grunnlaget er svak overeksponering av bildene kombinert med dagslys...liksom :) Jeg liker overeksponering. Synes det blir litt kult. Iallefall svak overeksponering - ikke sånn at det blir for utbrent...ellers er stolen i LO'en redigert ja...og ja...det er en stol som har vært utenfor huset en stund nå og sånn går det med sånne stoler ja...*blush* Ser dere bildene ok forresten? Vet at skjermen min er litt rar når det gjelder farger og at bildene ofte ser anerledes ut hos andres skjermer...

Hva sier dere? Har dere noen tanker omkring dette temaet selv? Hvor går deres egne, personlige grenser når det gjelder bilderedigering?

Ps? My pet peevee? Skjerm- og skriverkalibrering! Argh! Lekker redigering på skjerm blir ofte til dull og snodig utskrift. Fader at det er så lenge igjen til bursdagen min altså...jeg SKAL ønske meg Spyder da..!! Klamrer meg til det håpet om at det vil hjelpe betraktelig nemlig...Scrapbooker of the Year fra CK, C.D. Muckosky sier iallefall det vil hjelpe.....kanskje jeg må få meg en NÅ og ikke om noen måneder? Hmm..

Ps2? Å kikke på alle disse kule bryllupsbildene gjør meg litt lei meg faktisk. Litt fordi jeg tenker på våre egne bryllupsbilder som er ganske tradisjonelle og kjedelige.... lei meg fordi jeg ikke er eller føler meg fotogen nok eller har/hadde selvstendighet nok til å våge litt mer liksom. Da vi kom inn i fotostudioet var vi begge fryktelig nervøse og vel, iallefall jeg følte meg ganske sjenert egentlig. Tanken på å være i fokus for linsene gjorde meg nervøs, ikke minst fordi disse bildene liksom var så viktige... og jeg tar meg selv dessverre alt for høytidlig til å drite i hvordan jeg ser ut på bildene altså, men seriøst, jeg ser ikke ut på 90% av de uansett so whats the big deal da...sukk..

Ps3 (wohoo..playstation3! :p)! Har du sjekket Minneriket i det siste? Det bør du om du ikke har gjort det allerede - riket har fått et magasin og blogfeed! Genialt for deg som vil følge med på norske blogger enkelt og greit uten å måtte lete overalt for å sjekke om det er kommet noen nye poster siden sist :) Og så har vi Blogwatch - en spalte jeg er ansvarlig for - med "oversikt" over internajsonale blogger mm :) Med andre ord; vi er blitt mer tilgjengelige også for ikke-forumscrappere! Hva venter du på? :)

Ps4 (last one I promise!): Wohoo. Kom på femteplass i scrapliftcupen på PG denne runden og LO'en min (egentlig feil LO men..details :p) havna i dare #61 faves :D Yey!

Thought I'd share some of my inspirations & nice finds lately.

Firs off; discovered this lady yesterday - I'm so outta the loop so I dunno if I'm just particular slow or if she's not that known *blush* but - I liked what I heard! Do check out her myspace spot and listen to some of her tunes: Regina Spektor. Pretty similar style like Tori Amos (who by the way will be out with a new album soon!!! YAY!), I actually almost thought it was Tori - just that her (Reginas) voice is a bit more clear kinda....I think the chances of me buying her album will be pretty high if I happen to see it in a store....(I've only bought music on the net once....because the cd wasn't available otherwise *blush*)

This blog seem to be new - and very interesting. Her space : my space. Love the delicious & yummy colors. Nice idea. Todays entry are about taps. Here's mine - after looking at the yummy piccies both here and at the next stop below I decided...I wanna play with photography too!

This wonderful lady. Jessica Claire. Wow! If you've been to my blog for some time now you may have noticed me "complaining" that I'm so lousy at taking photos of other stuff but my children. And that I want to be better at taking cityphotos and stuff. Well, have a look at her place - it's so SUPERinspiring!!! I've *almost* decided to take a walk and try and look at my surroundings with new eyes! Wowowow. Really. Check out her photos!

And how fun. Just as I was done writing this and thinking I should post I checked Em's weekly challenge & found out it was about what inspires you - so here it is; my card about what inspires me: I don't really have a constant source/muse - but lately it's been all about the colors. All colors bright and shiny and yummy. Like Jessicas pictures. I'm not a colorful scrapper, at least I do not think so. BUT. It doesn't mean I can't get inspired by others/things that's colorful still? :) I borrowed a picture from Jessicas site (I hope she forgives me :p) and well, I thought I'd try altering it somewhat with some 3d paste & white paint but it didn't turn out the way I wanted, but ohwell...thats what this challenge is for too? Trying new stuff....not necessarily be perfect or do everything right always..as long as you try? My other inspirationsource are the pictures themselves. The pictures I scrap. The pictures that MAKES me wanna scrap them. Boring know :)

Tenkte jeg skulle dele noe av det som har inspirert meg i det siste og som bare gjør at jeg har lyst til å dele det med andre og :) På musikkfronten har jeg nettopp "oppdaget" Regina Spektor. Liker du Tori Amos burde du vel også like henne kanskje? Jeg vet ikke om jeg er treg eller, men hun er iallefall ny for meg :)

Her space: My space er en interessant bildeblogg med et kult konsept. Jeg har prøvd meg litt jeg og for de er virkelig inspirerende!

Jessica Claire. Wow! Dyktig til å redigere (?) og en enda dyktigere fotograf....ikke minst fordi jeg synes hun tar så interessante bilder.....ikke mennesker (som jeg har sett)..men feks...sjekk låsbildene.....vindu- og dørbildene..... gosj! Jeg tror jeg må ta meg en tur ut snart og ta noen bilder jeg også! har jo hatt lyst til å bli flinkere til det å ta bilder av ikke-unger..... :p

Jeg begynte egentlig på denne posten igår men så så jeg Em's utfordring denne uken; hva inspirerer deg. Gosj. For et kult sammentreff, akkurat det jeg satt og skrev om jo. Så da måtte jeg bare lage kortet ferdig før jeg postet denne posten ;) Bildene inspirerer meg i scrappinga....å kjenne at jeg har lyst til å scrappe bildet...yay! Og så farger. Sterke, inspirerende farger. Sånn som på de to fotositene jeg linka her. Og som i feks Corinne Delis kule nye papirserie Cosmic Energy. Eller Rogue de Garances intense farger. Det er ikke nødvendigvis sånn at jeg scrapper sterke farger - jeg tror ikke det iallefall....men de inspirerer meg! Det er vel lov? :)

Here it is...our new baby.....our Toyota Corolla...yay :) Will be a few more days before we can actually get it, but still...it's ours!! :)

Thanks for all the cheers I've gotten when it comes to the scrapping....and my upbeat tempo...heh..I love scrapping....and I love it when I'm able to squeeze in every little available moment & devote it to this hobby. And well. I don't have any DT or anything to make stuff to so I'm like, free to do stuff I want to do..and I want to do them all...kinda ;p I've been experimenting some lately. Taking a bit of a laidback approach to the scrapping...doing simple stuff...trying to let go, not think too much, and just play around with new stuff, stuff that's maybe not really me and so on. Like this layout that I combined for DW2007/Dare #49 (eclectic flowers/combine b&w and color photo). I think it's fun to vary and try different stuff....and I just read Karen Russels blogpost about taking challenges, trying other styles that's not you -- if you do a challenge that's similar to your own style....within your comfy zone...then it's not really a *real* challenge now is it? I like what she wrote. Except. I don't think I have any real comfort zones. I enjoy trying new stuff, seek out techniques, well..just...create... have fun....make a layout :)

Anyways. Made a number of hm.....slightly "freestyleish" layouts lately, I feel the need to do some nice and "pretty" layouts now. Just to balance it out some. We'll see. Need to make dinner and clean up some before I can have a look at what's on hand for tonight scrapping :)

Oh. By the way? I've got TONS of pictures yet to be scrapped...and what am I doing? Looking through the temp cat finding these already-scrapped pictures....wanting to scrap them once again. Me not very smart. Jeje :p

Ohyes! Bilen ble vår! Hurra! Er bare et par ting som må fikses før vi endelig kan få den over fjellene - papirer og kontroller og sånn. :) So happy! :D

Synes det er hyggelig å lese alle kommentarene - takk for at dere gidder - og joda..jeg merker jo at det at jeg lager så mye er et gjennomgangstema ;) Vel.. til min "unnskyldning".... jeg er ganske så kjapp for tiden når jeg først skal lage en LO, og finner jeg en ledig stund - samme hvor kort den er - så finner du meg foran scrappebordet (eller foran dataen der jeg redigerer og skriver ut bilder eller scanner LO'er :p). Det kan bli noen sene kvelder ja..... Og så har jeg jo ikke noe å lage layoutene til liksom, så da rekker jeg å bli med på det ene og det andre heromkring - elsker utfordringer, oppgaver og konkurranser,...selv om jeg så og si aldri vinner noe (once in a blue moon det der :p jeg er ganske average når det kommer til konkurranseresultater)...... bare det å lage en LO til "noe" er gøy og det som "keeps me going" ...dessuten..mottoet mitt er....at en må gjennom kvantitet(en) for å komme til kvaliteten... :) Og så er det ikke til å skjule at jeg elsker scrapping...jeg elsker å prøve nye ting, bytte stil hele tiden (føler jeg da...synes ikke jeg har en "fast" stil egentlig..har jeg vel?) og ja...rett og slett... bare...det å lage layouts....er gøy....:)

Så. Lag en layout idag. Og vær glad! :)

Alright. I know I asked for snow some weeks ago. I know I was worried that Amalie would go another year without knowing/recognizing what snow was. Well. I needen't worry. It's been snowing for at least two days now, the snow isn't going away for the moment being and IT'S FRIGGIN COLD HERE!!!!! And tonight I'm going to Oslo with Amalie and it's like, even colder in Oslo and I'm *so* looking forward to that (notice the sarcasm?). Oh, another thing to look forward to: I'm gonna take the nine o'clock plane tonight - alone - with Amalie - who'll most likely be very awake...and overtired....and probably not in a very good mood (she's been kinda grumpy & touchy the last few days - hope it won't be a part of her personality/traits). Oh how I look forward to that! Simen will be busy with a larger basketarrangement tomorrow, while Adrian will be attending a bdayparty for someone in the kindergarten.

Jeje. Here's two new layouts: "Brother in arms" which I made yesterday after yellin loud on Minneriket for a challenge (and boy I got answers and challenges alright - I snapped 5 challenges in this one - use a songtitle, lift this layout, use blondes, use pastels (Oh Baby IS pastel to me :P) and DW2007 from jan 15th: use stamped bullets for the journaling :P)
The other layout, "Play that funky music baby" was my contribution to Scrappefeber but didn't make the audition. And tbqh, apart from the layouts which really stood out and deservingly got many votes, I suspect that a very few of the layouts which made it just did so because of..uh...how to put it..a few "friendly votings". I know it's not nice to say so, and I know that hey, it happens and that's the way it is - and always has been (If I have the choice of two LO's I think are equally smashing I tend to go for the LO whose maker I know - so I'm not better off myself) - but I'm allowed to say it's slightly annoying in this case. But. The taste of people really IS different, I've learned that LO's of others I've been gushing about wasn't all that for some of my friends. And as a disclaimer, I'm not disappointed about not making it, I'm just annoyed that it's most likely the reason why some LO's actually made it over others imho ...more deserving ones (I saw at least three-four other great layouts which I find weird didn't make it against these :p)
Anyways! I seem to whine a lot lately, but it's unintentional...honest ;)
I love these pictures of Adrian and Amalie - it makes me think of that song which goes "play that funky music white boy"...the expression on her face when she finally makes the tune, and how caring her brother is trying to show her how to blow - I'm very happy to have been able to capture that :) Now. Off to pack for the weekend!

Snø snø snø. Kaldt kaldt kaldt. Sånn kan de to siste dagene oppsummeres iallefall. Brr!
Har iallfall fått laget en LO igår etter å ha ropt høyt etter en utfordring på Minneriket - og fått grundig med sånne og :p Her er hele fem utfordringer fluet sammen! Yay! :) Legger også ved bidraget mitt til scrappefeber...å safe det var ikke så lurt gitt, den skilte seg ikke akkurat nevneverdig ut - og det visste jeg jo egentlig på forhånd :p Kan ikke akkurat si jeg er enig med alle LO'ene som kom videre - de fleste var fabelaktige og fortjente det, mens noen veldig få var..eh, ikke min smak..og jeg hadde gjerne sett andre LO'er i deres sted... men sånn er det bare....smaken er som baken og godt er det vel? :p

Anyways!! Nå MÅ jeg pakke til Oslo og prøve å scrappe sjokoladeplata (to uker på en sjokoladeplate og enda ikke begynt...right!)! Og så HÅPER jeg at jeg får til å treffe Gyda, Kristin og Kathrine imorgen før jeg drar til pappa! Jeg MÅ det - selv om det bare blir fem minutter...*fnis* *vinkevinke* *stikke av* :P

Wow. This one took me like, uh, close to one week to finish off. That's pretty much a new record for me, as I usually spend one to two days on a layout - maybe three including the preparation of the pictures and some pondering on the journaling and stuff. But this long? For just one layout? New record I'm sure. The journaling was the hardest part of this layout - and when that part was fixed & set I suddenly needed the help of someone with QK for some parts ("same" and "mix" - thanks Dinna!) and that took some days aswell. Ofcourse it's not helping much that I'm bizzi bizzi bizzi trying to level up in World of Warcraft in the evenings - we're falling behind and it seems like we actually -gasp- have more "real life" now than we used to in the good ole' days. Kids and lots of other responsibilities kinda. Terrifying. We're growing old! But I digress. Right. This layout. I'm *blush* trying for the Scrapologie DT-spot. Not a chance in hell ofc, but you never accomplish anything without trying, no? Their kits looks totally yummy yummy. And at least it made for some good fun on the journaling side. Haha. Especially that "scandinavian simplicity with few but interesting details" part - LOL. A prettier way to say "I-have-no-clue-nor-ideas-what-to-do-now-so-that's-just-it". Thanks for the help & brainstorming Gyda/Katta/Kathrine. *chuckle* As soon as I've finished deciding what other layouts/projects to send in I'll do that. Soh!

I really adore lettersize these days. So easy (normally :P) to scrap & complete! And oh - CHA is fast apporaching and I totally, totally envy those who'll get to go there and get lost at that convention. Woah. Ofcourse it'd so suck to just see and not be allowed to immediate purchase, like, for own use - but still. All the new and fresh and funky stuff!! *drool* So looking forward to especially Scenic Route and Basic Grey. YEah! And MME - I have no idea what they'll do for CHA but I'm sure it'll be great!

Wow - ny rekord for meg gitt - å bruke cirka en uke på en og samme LO! Vanligvis gjør jeg unna LO'ene - selve arbeidet på de - på en-to dager, toppen tre inkludert litt tenking på journaling-delen, oppsett sånn før jeg setter igang og redigering av bilde. Denne gangen var journalingen en hard nøtt å knekke, men det gikk tilslutt med litt brainstorming og QK hjelp fra msn-damene. Og så må det innrømmes at det at kveldene går unna til WoW spilling og levling for tiden kanskje spiller inn og :p Men. Da var den LO'en laget - skal bare sjekke litt rundt etter hva slags LO'er jeg skal ta med og så skal jeg ta og sende den inn tenkte jeg....til Scrapologie's DT search. Fat chance, men det er da en sjanse enn ingen enn om jeg ikke skulle sendt inn. Eller noe sånt.

Kathrine skrev forøvrig i bloggen sin om det å lage layouter og formålet - og det er forøvrig noe jeg og har tenkt litt på og har skrevet litt om på minneriket - jeg klarer bare ikke å "bare" lage en layout sånn helt uten videre gitt. Jeg må ha et sideformål, "noe" jeg kan lage layouten til. Nettkurs, utfordringer, konkurranser. Og DT søknader *blush* Sånn innimellom er det ganske forfriskende å bare lage en layout "just because", noe jeg gjorde for noen uker siden da jeg følte det ble litt mange konkurranse-og utfordringsLO'er - men utover det - jeg synes fortsatt det er gøy, drivende og givende å lage LO'er til et eller annet utover det at de skal inn i albumene mine. Jeg føler meg heller ikke så fryktelig begrenset av oppgavetekster eller noe med tanke på type bilder jeg bruker - er da sikker på at jeg bruker variert med typer bilder og sånn...tror jeg da? :) Men for all del - det er viktig at dette skal være gøy og noe en kan være stolt av å ha i *sine egne* album - så jeg håper virkelig Kathrine og andre som kanskje begynner å "tvile" finner ut av det *uten* å slutte å scrappe! :)

Anyways. Blir visst en kjapp Oslo-tur for meg til helgen gitt. Hurra for pappa og hans 60-årsdag. Og kameraet mitt er i Estland! *dåne* *sukke* Jaja. Jeg vet iallefall hvor i verden det er nå. :p

And we're back on track!
Did this layout for the KI blog & DW2007 Jan 1st challenges. I love it when I can do two things at once :) KI Blog: I used the fall papers & alpine hip chip. The pictures are from a visit at Simens grandma...in the spring :P As for the DW2007 - Jan 1st was about cropping smaller pictures making a collage. I think the journaling is a bit unbalanced, other than that the layout feels okay. One of them decent layouts - not too satisfied, but not dissatisfied either :)

These pictures reminds me of another thing though. I keep thinking that I'm not that bad at using everyday-pictures, but truth to be told - I *suck* when it comes to making layouts of others but my own children. The interaction with other familymembers is just as important as the pwetty little faces of my children ( :p ). To preserve memories is also about showing the children who they were surrounded with, and that's what I'm determined to do better in 2007. For what I know they might get bored with seeing closeup portraits of themselves when they grow up, and rather want to see more pictures of their beloved grandparents, grand-grandparents, uncle, aunt, cousins, distant relatives, friends and so on. (Alright I think that'll be too true :p). Actually, I think the cue is to balance out all these different kind of pictures and motifs. And I *will* be more aware of the pictures I feel are less scrapable - but just as important (The real challenge would be making them scrapable, no? Besides..I think it's just in my mind. The feeling that these pictures are less scrapable.). Soh!

Og da var enda en LO komplettert - denne gangen til den artige utfordringen på KI bloggen - som jeg fluet med en av DW2007 oppgavene. Utfordringen fra KI bloggen var å bruke papirene/produktene til andre typer bilder enn det temaet for arkene gikk ut på. Her er noen familiebesøkbilder fra våren parret med høst-kolleksjonen deres (som jeg forresten bare digger - så rike, varme farger! Nydelig!) DW oppgaven gikk ut på å croppe bilder og lage en collage ut av de. Det ble ikke så verst - og viktigst av alt - jeg ser det at selv om jeg synes jeg er ikke så verst til å bruke "hverdagsbilder" i scrappingen min så er jeg helt ELENDIG på å "inkludere" andre enn mine barn i LO'ene mine. Og det er jo helt ....shameless egentlig? Jeg tør påstå at når ungene blir store så blir de like, om ikke mer, interessert i LO'ene der de kan se sine slektninger og venner, som i LO'ene der de får servert closeups av trynene deres over hele LO'en liksom. Slektninger som kanksje ikke er lenger når de har skjønt poenget med album (om de kommer til å gjøre det da :P). Så. Jeg har funnet enda et scrappeforsett for 2007: Scrap flere bilder som jeg av en eller annen grunn føler ikke helt er scrapbare - men som inkluderer flere enn mine unger og som er like verdifulle å bevare.

Ellers. En liten kuriositet. En ganske fascinerende en synes jeg - om det med kulturen og sånn faktisk stemmer, og at det er anerledes enn slik sånt sees på her i Norge og vestlige land.

Right. In WoW there's a saying going atm: "Screenshot it or it didn't happen!" It's meant to be funny. And it is. Heh. Like when I'm given a snowball to throw on another partymember and then says it wasn't my idea, I got this from XX and he says "screenshot it or it didn't happen!" and I go .... :p (and once again I digress :p) However that's also something I've been feeling lately. Take a picture or it didn't happen. Or. Take a picture or forget it ever happened. I often find myself relying on looking through pictures to remember specific things. "What did we do in September?" "Hold on, I'll check (the pictures)." What about the little things happening that I didn't get to take pictures of? Oh, it's like they never happened..? Exaggerated ofcourse, but you catch my drift. I'm currently trying to sum up 2006 in short cues. And most of the cues kinda comes from these pictures I've taken. But really, it's not our whole life in these pictures. And naturally, these pictures are mostly "cute and happy" pictures (although I love taking pictures of the not so happy stuff aswell - but still, they're a minority in my folders). And it doesn't mean life is all "cute and happy". Is that what the children will remember when looking through the pictures (and my layouts)? It's just (mostly) a glossy version of their childhood. Things doesn't happen all the time. They get bored too. They cry too. They're inside just as much as they're outside in the summers. And so on and so on. I'm trying to balance that in my layouts. I think most do. But it's nice to get a reminder - to be aware of it too. Scrap the less fun/fortunate moments. Scrap life as it is. Hey. Don't diss the great and fun moments. They often make the nicest layouts too I think. But don't forget about the "normal" situations either. My guess is that they'll trigger a more familiar feeling. Maybe not now, but in a few years? I dunno. But I do think they're just as important as the highlights of our lives.

Now. Two Christmassy layouts. Nothing too fancy. I still like the simple style tho. Bohemia Christmas & Basic Grey christmaspapers btw. And my all-time-fave atm - Heidi Swapp chipboardalfa. I don't think I've made a layout without them lately! (Alright. 8 outta 10 layouts features the HS alfa tho :P)

Ps. Lady Venegance was a very nice movie. Pecuilar ofc, but so are most Asian movies I've seen - it's the difference in the culture I guess. I'm too used to US movies :p And oh, it's actually a Korean movie. Cool.

Ps2. How many layouts I've made in 2006? Geez. It's at least more than 100+. I may feel like counting after New Years :p But. It's not about quantity, but quality, right? But to get to the quality you gotta practice. A lot. Soh! :p

Anyways. Have a totally fab weekend! :) Christmas is coming sooon!!

Bilder er sterke bevis for vårt liv - de er viktige for en viss sannhetsgehalt. Det er en grunn til at nyhetsreportasjer "alltid" må ha noen live ved et åssted - selv om de får så og si all sin informasjon from studioet og ofte likegjerne kunne lest opp det de skal si hvorsomhelst. Det er ikke så fryktelig mye man får vite når man står 15 meter fra et åssted feks - men man kan iallefall se hvordan det ser ut der og at man faktisk er tilstede. Det at man er på åsstedet gir det de sier en slags ekstra sannhet - litt sånn "ja det vi sier er sant, vi er jo her ser du vel" (ok..nå roter jeg meg laaangt ut på siden her). Men. Til poenget. Sånn er det også litt med våre bilder. Ser vi mange nok bilder av visse situasjoner, er det ofte gjerne disse tingene vi husker best etter noen år. Er det da de tingene det vi faktisk husker helt av oss selv, eller bygger vi opp en slags hukommelse/hendelse i hukommelsen vår ut ifra disse bildene? Jeg må innrømme det. Mange av mine egne barndommsminner er ting jeg senere har sett på bilder eller videoer av meg selv da jeg var liten. Så jeg er ikke helt sikker på om minnene mine er "oppkonstruerte" fordi jeg har sett disse bildene/filmene og så glemt det, eller om jeg faktisk husker de sånn som de var og at bildene ytterligere beviser disse minnene liksom.

Derfor tror jeg det er litt viktig at vi også ikke glemmer de helt vanlige, normale situasjonene...hverdagsbildene...og at vi også scrapper disse. Jeg tror de fleste av oss gjør det og da. Jeg tenker ikke så mye over det når jeg scrapper egentlig. Bare om bildene er fine og scrapbare. Men en liten reminder er alltid greit - jeg vil at barna mine skal "huske" at joda de hadde en fin barndom (håper jeg) men også forstå at ting skjedde ikke hele tiden som det kanskje kan virke som ut ifra de fleste layoutene mine :) Livet er ikke bare en dans på roser. Barna gjør ikke spennende ting hele tiden. (Ikke mine iallefall :p) Og ting må heller ikke skje hele tiden for det. Det er vel helt greit det også?

Yay! It's Christmastime.... :) Adrian woke up pretty early today (wonder why :p) and raced to the calendar...I made him wait with it until I was properly awake and outta bed so I could take some pictures :p Poor kid :p This year the children got two calendars - one from my mother, with small bags for both kids (she usually mail me these every year - and this year Amalie's got her own bags too :) ) - with various things inside, and a chocolatecalendar each from Simens mother. Yay. One calendar in the morning (the big one), and the chocolate one when they get home from the kindergarten. Today they got caps from the big calendar. :)

Now. I'm curious. Have a look at your five last layouts (or just the latest layouts/projects) and tell me if you can see a pattern. Which products do you use like, a lot?
Looking briefly at mine it's (in random order):

• Clearstamps (haha..big surprise ;p)
• Zigns baby biggie (white paint) - especially using it around the pictures
• Heidi Swapp Bling borders - cutting them into small pieces and placing them all around. So cool!
• Heidi Swapp florals (especially folded and stapled)
• Heidi Swapp Chipboard alfa (brown newsprint)

And -- looking at the clearstamps there's some which seem to be used more than others -- my favourite clearstamps (as in used a lot/more versatile, not necessarily the ones I think are the prettiest/coolest.. :P) seem to be:

• Sassafrass Lass Fancy Schmancy Tags
• Sassafrass Lass Doodled Borders
• Sassafrass Lass Doodle Dings
• Sassafrass Lass Alpha Buttons
• Autumn Leaves Journaling Stamps
• MSE! School Days lowercase
• Technicqe Tuesdays Postcards from Paris

So. Now it's your turn. Let me know which product you seem to be using more frequently over others lately :) Maybe I'll get new ideas for myself :) Feel free to share them here or in your own blog - just let me know :)

Hihi...ungene har to julekalendere iår - en stor en med pakker fra min mor (dette begynner å bli en fast tradisjon - at hun sender meg pakker til julekalenderen hvert år :) ), og en Kindersokoladekalender hver til Amalie og Adrian fra farmoren. De får åpne den store om morgenen før barnehagen, og vente med sjokoladekalenderen til de kommer hjem igjen. (Smart. Sukkersjokk når vi skal være hjemme med dem. Hm. Kanskje vi skal vurdere sjokoladekalender før barnehagen allikevel :p). Adrian spratt opp og våknet tidlig idag - kanskje ikke så rart med tanke på hva slags dag det er idag :p Han ordnet og styrte med krakk og saks til jeg fikk ropt til ham at han måtte vente -- jeg måtte våkne skikkelig, stå opp og finne frem kamera jo ;) I dagens poser fant ungene luer - yay! Så praktisk og flott! :D (*håper på flere slike praktiske gaver utover i kalenderen*)

Ellers har jeg kikket litt på de siste LO'ene mine og kommet frem til visse produkter som ser ut til å være faste gjengangere på mange av de - jeg deler de her og håper du også vil ta en kikk på dine fem-ti siste LO'er/prosjekter og dele *dine* faktiske favorittscrappeprodukter.
Her er mine 5 på topp:

• Clearstamps (surprise :p)
• Zign Baby Biggie (hvit maling til å ha rundt kantene på bildet)
• Heidi Swapp Bling Borders (særlig det å klippe en og en og plassere de rundt på LO'en)
• Heidi Swapp Florals (brette og staple)
• Heidi Swapp chipboardalfa (a la brun Newsprint - digger disse rått!)

Så. Hva er dine? Del da vel - enten her eller i din egen blogg og la meg vite hva du har brukt oftest i det siste - kanskje jeg får noen nye produktideer jeg må teste ut selv? :)

Ha en riktig god adventstid! :) (ja, sjokket over at det nå er desember har gitt seg her...litt ...:P)

Og!! Glemte det nesten - hurra til Banglamarie som vant Skissecup'en på Papirgleder! Gratulerer så mye!!! :D

Well, some mixed thought about scrapping. Once again. I started out with this hobby because I wanted to document my childrens life, to showcase "Look-I've-got-two-wonderful-pretty-and-cute-children" and to have fun - and I *do* have fun still, don't get me wrong. But yeah - lately I've been thinking -- there must be more to this, I'm impressed by scrappers without children who still makes wonderful and ultracool layouts (just look at Elsie). I'm so used to scrap my children, to photograph and focus at my children -- sometimes I do get a bit fed up tbh. So. I gotta learn how to take (scrapable) pictures of non-children-objects, I gotta learn to document myself and my surroundings, I gotta learn to *love* and *use* those pictures in the scrapping...and I gotta learn how to do that and still be cool ;) Naa, I'll never quit those "pretty-pictures-meaningless-layouts" of my children - but some variation is good. Just. Need to actually take those pictures. And make them cool and interesting. Hm. It'd be somewhat easier if Simen or someone else also liked to photograph. I wanna be in the pictures too, and it's also kinda limited how much variation I can get by taking pictures of myself in the mirror. Just because I only like one kind of look on myself then. All the others gets immediately deleted. Heh.

Noen random thoughts om scrapping - nok en gang. Denne gangen triggret av Kine og bloggen hennes. Jeg elsker ungene mine, men jeg kan faktisk få litt nok av de *blush* -- det er ikke alltid jeg har historier bak bildene, så da lurer jeg litt på, hva skal jeg skrive om nå da?? Og så blir jeg avogtil litt lei og fed-up av å ha sider med fine bilder, men ikke noe mer liksom... og noen historier blir for meg litt platte og jattajatta - fordi jeg føler jeg *burde* ha noe mer enn bare et bilde på LO'en :P Så..jeg **prøver** å lære meg til å *like* og *bruke* bilder av meg selv, å ta og se andre motiv enn ungene, å få flere bilder av meg/andre rundt meg enn ungene -- men det er en lang og smertefull prosess der jeg tar et skritt av gangen :P Sånn er det iallefall for meg :) Kommer aldri til å slutte med å lage LO'er av ungene da, men litt variasjon sånn innimellom er bare av det gode! Problemet er bare at jeg ikke har så mange andre motiv - jeg må lære meg opp til å ta kule bilder (se feks på Elsie -- hun har alltid så mange kule by-motiv! Skjønner ikke hvordan hun greier det - er stedene hun besøker mye mer spennende eller "ser" hun sånne ting mye lettere enn feks jeg gjør??) og ikke minst være tilstede i bildene selv på andre måter enn "oppstilt" liksom..(og ikke minst bremse "delete"-knappen i bilder der jeg selv er med på men som jeg ikke liker og dermed bare vil slette. Jeg elsker å scrappe, jeg prøver å gjøre det så ofte jeg kan - enten scrappe eller gjøre scrapperelaterte stuff - men avogtil føler jeg at joda, det blir litt mye repitisjon på en måte.....*sukk* men jeg vil ikke slutte eller spare på selve scrappingen da...hm. Jeg tror jeg trenger et mer spennende liv. Yep. Det er løsningen! Spennende liv = spennende bilder = spennende layouts. Ellernoesånt :p