Formatting your story...

Besides adding variety, some stories lend themselves better to different formats. Both my dh and I asked our parents some questions about when we were born, and how they chose our name.

His story fit better in a Q&A format:

credits, credits

Mine fit better in a paragraph/story format:

credits, credits

What's your story?

Template Tuesday

OK, so I've read a bunch of posts about the 4-shared/virus thing, and it's my understanding that if your virus protection software is up to snuff, there is no problem. Nevertheless..I can't be held accountable.
Here's lucky template #13: (image is linked)And my version:

The story: Girls camp started VERY early one morning with a service project of painting the T on Trenton Hill. Natalie cleaned off one rock, carefully painted it, then turned around and sat down on it to paint the next rock. She is so silly! Her favorite silly moment was as they were passing Newton Dam EARLY in the morning, she commented, “I didn’t know Clarkston has a reservoir?” The girls, and leaders, teased her about it all week. After they enhanced the T, the crew headed off to Twin Lakes. Natalie loved being dragged around the lake while riding the tube with some of her best friends, Teanna and Tori. The tube was made for one or maybe two, which is why she kept falling off when they would hit a swell! She also gave knee-boarding a try, but preferred the tube. Thirty six hours later she returned home—and slept for 36 hours.

The Supplies: Walking on Sunshine by Amanda Thorderson; string from Tango Bango by Melissa Bennett; felt stitched alpha by dani mogstad;



I liked this LO, but it didn't "sing", so I tried redo-ing it:
Among other things from the last credits list, I used some items from one of my kits: Let's Camp S'more. While I LOVE the colors in Amanda's Walking on Sunshine kit, this LO focuses more on the story and the photos--they really stand out!

4-Shared and Viruses

Bummer! Apparently people are getting viruses from 4-shared. I am working on different options--hopefully I will have the problem solved before Template Tuesday. I just can't see paying to give something away. :(
More to come...

My story matters...

Here's the whole story:

Although I am the oldest child, on my Dad’s side of the family I am the thirty ninth grandchild, so to them my coming was a fairly routine event. On the other hand I was the first grandchild on my mom’s side. However, since Grandma and Grandpa still had 7 children at home ranging in age all the way down to less than a year old, they were almost too busy to be excited about becoming grandparents. Nonetheless, my parents were thrilled. They’d spent so much time playing with my Aunt Saralyn (3 months old when they married) that no one was surprised when they announced that they were pregnant a few months later.
The pregnancy was rather uneventful—Mom was never sick and in fact enjoyed being pregnant. They were very poor, but managed to purchase a few things for the baby, but not much as Mom did not like yellow and ultrasounds were not around when I was born.
Although I was due on July 2nd, after three days in labor, I was born via C-section on July 27th. The doctor figured that Mom was just too young to have her dates right. I weighed 9 lbs, 15 ozs and Mom said I looked a month old from day one. After 10 days in the hospital (it took Mom a while to recover) we came home to the little apartment behind Grandma and Grandpa’s house. No one came to “help” Mom—she had Dad; and they have always believed that having the Daddy take care of the Mommy and the new baby is a wonderful way to grow closer as a family.

One of my favorite photos

This is my nephew--we were playing peek-a-boo in the play house--he just peeked around the shutters. I wish it looked better--it does in person, but for some reason looks blown out here.

If you are interested in improving your photos, check out Jessica's new photo editing class found here

Blessing #4

Did a blessing LO for last night's speed scrap:Credits

Wre-vise, Wre-write, Wednesday: Interview

Try writing a story by interviewing someone. My dh called his mom and asked her these questions, taken from the Cherish Bound Birth Story Starter. (need one? Email me)
Tell me about our family before I was born.
Dad and I were going to UofI. We lived in a small apartment on Oregon Street across the street from Leal school. We rented the upstairs apartment from a Jewish couple—they lived downstairs. Dad worked at the library on campus. We had dinner Christmas day with his boss.
When and how did you find out you were pregnant?
I knew I had missed a cycle, but I was feeling very tired and run-down. I went to the McKinley Health Center to see why I was sick.
What was your reaction to the news?
I was stunned…but happy. Dad was happy too.
Did you have any weird food cravings?
I craved tart things, sour things-like lemons.
What advice were you given?
Grandma Hattie told me babies had to wear undershirts.
Tell me about when I was born?
We went to the hospital late on Christmas Day. Dr. Huffman came straight from a Christmas dinner in his suit. He calmly flung his suit coat over a chair, put on his surgical gown, and washed up with betadine. You were born at 3:30 AM on December 26th. You had apgar scores of 10 and 10. They immediately laid you on my chest.
How did you feel when you held me for the first time?
I was nervous. I had never held a baby before. I was worried about your soft spot and supporting your head.
How did Dad feel when he held me for the first time?
He was very relaxed about the whole thing. That helped me remain calm.
How did things go once we went home?
We stayed in the hospital for 4 days—that was typical then as they didn’t make you get up and walk around. Dad took us home. I remember felling very blessed to have you. You were such a beautiful baby. I was so worried about hand washing and sanitation—I made your Dad wash his hands before touching you.
Tell me about my room/bed?
You slept in a small crib in our room. We lived in a one bedroom apartment.
Did anyone come to help you?
Bea came for the first week—she slept on the couch. When you would wake up, your Dad would get up and bring you to me so I could feed you. After a couple days he would say he was “losing his mind” because of lack of sleep. When he did, Bea would swipe at something in the air. Then “hand” Dad his “mind.”
Anything else you remember?
At six weeks old your were sleeping through the night.
You grew so fast. Dr. Greenwold was alarmed by your weight gain. You went from 8 lbs to 12 lbs that first month. He was afraid of obesity, so when we could feed you cow’s milk, he had us put you on 2% rather than whole milk.

Template Tuesday

Sorry about the technical difficulties earlier this week. It's a LONG story for another time.
Here's this week's template:
Here's my version: notice that I used one of the photo blocks for my story. You could use one or two or just as the template is.

The gap in the middle is to compensate for the "gutter" in my Cherishbound books. It is ample for what is actually needed. If you have any questions, email me.

Credits: harvest by amanda thorderson; alpha is modified from harvest spice by shabby princess; stitches by anna aspnes; pin by irene alexeva; flourishes by katie pertiet

Template can be found here

Template Tuesday

Sorry about the technical difficulties earlier this week. It's a LONG story--for another day.

Here's this week's template:

My version: (I used one of the photo blocks for my story--you could use one, or two, or as the template shows)

The gap in the middle of mine is to compensate for the "ditch" in my Cherish Bound book. Usually I ignore it, but I was afraid my son's face would end up in the ditch.



Credits are: Amanda Thorderson's harvest kit; stitching by Anna Aspnes; alpha modified version of Shabby Princess's harvest spice; the flourishes are by Katie Pertiet; and the heart pin is by Irene Alexeva;



Download the template here

Memory Spark Monday: Your birth story

Write every detail you know. This might be a long story, or a short one. It might be a story you can tell, or you might need to get the details.
For more inspiration, check out Brittney’s challenge at scrapmatters found here

Viewing Fonts on the Fly

—thanks to Designer Digitals for this tip!
As you work with text in Photoshop and PSE, it?s sometimes nice to see what it would look like in a different font. Here?s a quick way to view your message in different fonts.
Get the Text tool and type your message. Highlight the text, then click once in the box containing the font name in the Options Bar. Click the down-arrow key on your keyboard to view your text in the next font in the list. Click the down-arrow again and again to preview your text in the fonts installed on your system. Press the up-arrow key on the keyboard to scroll back up the list. Holding the arrow key scrolls through your fonts quickly.
When you find the perfect font, click the checkmark to confirm the change.

Wre-vise, Wre-write, Wednesday: Right Branching Sentences

Begin sentences with subjects and verbs, letting subordinate elements branch to the right. Even a long, long sentence can be clear and powerful when the subject and verb make meaning early.
To use this tool, imagine each sentence you write printed on an infinitely wide piece of paper. In English, a sentence stretches from left to right. Now imagine this: A reporter writes a lead sentence with subject and verb at the beginning, followed by other subordinate elements, creating what scholars call a "right-branching sentence."
I just created one. Subject and verb of the main clause join on the left ("A reporter writes") while all other elements branch off to the right. Here's another right-branching sentence, written by Lydia Polgreen as the lead of a news story in The New York Times:
Rebels seized control of Cap Haitien, Haiti's second largest city, on Sunday, meeting little resistance as hundreds of residents cheered, burned the police station, plundered food from port warehouses and looted the airport, which was quickly closed. Police officers and armed supporters of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide fled.
That first sentence is 37 words long and rippling with action. The sentence is so full, in fact, that it threatens to fly apart like some overheated engine. But the writer keeps control by creating meaning in the first three words: "Rebels seized control..." Think of that main clause as the locomotive that pulls all the cars that follow.
Today’s tip courtesy of Roy Clark found here:
I write lots of long sentences. I am going to work on using this tip.
What’s your story?

Template Tuesday

A 2-pager this week:

And mine:
Credits: alpha by Brittish Designs, stitches by Anna Aspnes

Download the template here.

Blessing # 3

Credits can be found here:

Memory Spark Monday: Sounds like… smells like…feels like…tastes like

What does your grandma’s house taste like? What does your favorite food feel like? I’m not suggesting that you eat your grandma’s house, just use that statement to spark your journaling. Pick two things that wouldn’t normally “match” and explain how they do:
Sam’s choice raspberry-cranberry juice tastes like Sunday. It was on sale on an end cap at Walmart a couple months ago, and now I’m hooked. Every time I drink a cup, I am transported back to my childhood on Sunday evening. Back to the day when going to church on Sunday meant Sunday School in the morning, home for a BIG Sunday Dinner, naps and visiting Grandma Pitcher, milking the cows, and a quick supper before heading back to Sacrament Meeting. Our quick supper was grilled cheese or tuna sandwiches and either rice pudding or canned fruit. During the summer my mother canned peaches and raspberries and all year round we ate them on Sunday evenings. I didn’t much care for the peaches, but I LOVED the raspberries—even though they were squishy. But my favorite part was drinking the juice. It tasted just like the raspberry-cranberry juice I savor now.
What’s your story?

Wre-vise, Wre-write, Wednesday: perspective

Write your story to an inanimate object. I wrote this story on Monday, but while thinking about editing, I decided this approach would be best:

I’m sorry little monkey. You see, I’m not very good at video games, but we enjoy playing together as a family so much, that THIS is what I wanted to do for mother’s day—to play a MARATHON game with our family. I’m sorry that the anvil keeps hitting you on the head. I’m really just trying to get enough points to win the round. I’m sorry that your brain keeps getting fried in the wrecked airplane—I’m not very fast at pushing the red button. I’m sorry that the lion bites your head, and that the drumming monkey throws cocoanuts at you when I miss the beat. I’m sorry you fall out of the sky or into the water when I can’t aim, but you are the fastest at selecting the differently dressed hippo. And no one is quicker on the draw than you. I’ll keep trying and maybe someday you’ll be at the top of the tree.

Not all stories work with this method, but it is an option to consider.
What's your story?

Template Tuesday

One with room for LOTS of pics and LOTS of story. Use the bottom of both pages if you need it.

Here's mine:

credits: http://www.scrapmatters.com/gallery3/showphoto.php/photo/20948/ppuser/588

http://www.scrapmatters.com/gallery3/showphoto.php/photo/20949/ppuser/588

Download it here:

http://www.4shared.com/file/83660389/59ad1915/template_10.html

Memory Spark Monday: Choose a gift you've received and tell the story

This started about my most recent mothers' day gift, but it kind of morphed.
Technically for Mother’s Day I got a camera—but since I bought it myself, brought it home, (plugged in the battery so it would be charged and ready) wrapped it, it wasn’t a surprise. What I asked for from my family is that we would all spend a chunk of time playing Buzz Jr. Jungle Party. It’s a silly collection of games that four monkeys play against one another. Each player is a monkey. If you lose your monkey falls in the river, has a hippo or an anvil fall on him, gets his head bit by a lion, or gets electrocuted. They are really funny and at that time, it was a close contest between the four of us. We love competition and we enjoy trash talking to each other. I struggle with most of the games—just doing average, but I am REALLY good at a couple of games and that keeps me in the running. I thought it would be a fun way to spend a couple hours on Mother’s Day.

Blessings LO's

I decided to focus on one blessing each week. I am still struggling with the stories on these. For instance how can I summarize why I am thankful for Kiersti in one page, let alone a few sentences. This will be a work in progress, but here's the first three (and they can be posted now that the credits are complete)
http://www.scrapmatters.com/gallery3/showphoto.php/photo/23309

http://www.scrapmatters.com/gallery3/showphoto.php/photo/23308

http://www.scrapmatters.com/gallery3/showphoto.php/photo/23307

Technically I am going for 1 per week--except I hope to have them completed by Thanksgiving, so a few weeks will have to have two.

More Layouts from this week:

http://www.scrapmatters.com/gallery3/showphoto.php/photo/22662/ppuser/588 http://www.scrapmatters.com/gallery3/showphoto.php/photo/22663/ppuser/588

Hmm. I guess the others I'll need to wait to post.