Using my Cricut and Elegant Cakes cartridge I created this sign with clothes pins to hang papers with no names.

Organization overload

With my new found love of Pinterest I have found so many great ideas to help me organize my classroom. My first project was to organize my lesson plans and paper work I find that piles up on my desk.

I don't know why I never thought of this idea myself but thanks to Pinterest my lesson plans will always be easily found. Of course I have so many things pinned I now can't find who had this idea to give them credit. When I find it again I will be sure to give her credit because I can see this being a huge help for me this year.

Several people have pinned this idea as well but I thought I would add mine to my blog with a disclaimer. I do not recommend these drawers for the idea of putting paper on to make them cute. The front of the drawers have a curve that make it a pain to get the paper to lay flat on even when cutting slits to allow for over lapping. It will work for me but for those of you out there who haven't purchased your own just yet it's something to keep in mind.

A peak at the madness that unfolds!

With so much scrapbooking going on Amy had to create a space with enough for the two of us to work in her new home. This marks the first of our planned scrapbooking weekends where we get between 30-50 pages completed and a LOT of world issues resolved.

Amy returned to Kansas City for our next gathering. If there is a mess that means we are getting a lot done, right?

Trying out a new set up. That's right, not 1 but 3 Cricut machines to keep us going.

Had to expand our latest set up to include TWO more people. We love getting new scrappers together to join us. The more the merrier!



Where the love for this hobby began.

After college I moved backed to Kansas City and began my teaching career. There was one problem being a 20 something, single woman re-establishing life after college; friendships. I found that I was in a middle ground of life struggling to figure out who I was. Most of the friends I had in college were either back near the college or had moved on to their new beginnings as well and my friends in the area that I had from high school had moved on with their new beginnings as well.

I met my husband shortly after moving back to Kansas City and we eventually moved in together. It was at this home that I found my passion for scrapbooking. Actually, it found me. One day a couple of the neighbors decided they needed to meet the new people on the block and stopped by to introduce themselves and invite us to dinner. This was the beginning of a great friendship that brought scrapbooking into my life.

My new friend, Amy, invited me to join her and some of her friends for a monthly scrapbooking get together she was hosting at her house. I had NEVER done a bit of scrapbooking but thought it might be fun and could be a good way to meet some new people. My first scrapbooking event was as close to a complete disaster as you can get. I was overwhelmed by what these girls were creating and designing and all of the "tools" they had. I think I probably lasted an hour or two before I threw in the towel and headed home. All hope was not lost though. I was determined to find my place amongst this group and enjoy this time they made for the girls.

My goal was to invest in a few tools of my own and work at my craft so I felt comfortable during these monthy gatherings. It was not an overnight transformation but each month I began to improve just a little bit more until I finally found my groove. By this time my investment in tools had equaled if not surpassed those who were in this group. I started with the basics; cutting tools, markers, rulers, etc. and quickly expanded to my first major purchase of a Sizzix die cutter. The Sizzix brought a new life to my craft. And with this new life came a new found love for the hobby.

Fast forward a couple of years and Amy decided it was time to make her next investment and bought her first Cricut machine. WOW! The designs we started creating were elaborate and beautiful. It brought Amy and I closer as friends as we spent more time scrapbooking and as any scrapbooker knows that's like free therapy as you talk about how to solve all the worlds troubles. Before too long I couldn't live without having a Cricut machine of my own. My wonderful husband and parents made this investment for me as a birthday present. It is the best present they could have given me that year. I am now the owner of a Cricut Expression machine and a Cricut Cake machine.

A few more years pass by. Amy and I chatted occassionaly and got together a couple of times each month to scrapbook. That is when she broke the news that she and her husband were moving to Iowa to be closer to her husbands family. While I was happy for them it made me sad because by this time in life you learn that when people move away, regardless of what they say, they just don't keep in touch. I couldn't have been more wrong. Amy and I talk more now than we did when she lived two houses down. We have continued to grow our friendship and our scrapbooking hobby. We started with one visit per year and have grown to three or four visits throughout the year. We talk so much now that our husbands joke that we will be the old ladies in the nursing home talking about "remember when" stories and will have to remind each other of who the other is as we lose our memories.

My goal for this blog is to improve my journaling ability as that is the one area I lack in when it comes to my scrapbook pages. I will also share my layout designs and other projects that I create during my time with my hobby; the hobby I would never have if it weren't for the knock on the door from a stranger up the street.