new blog title and two scrapbook layouts

even before i actually started this blog, i’d been thinking a lot about blog titles. i settled with just words + photos to get things going knowing that eventually i would change it. i like the essence of this title, but it is just kinda blah.

but on friday i officially changed the title to leaf puddles and airplane stars. i think it is perfect (for now). it's whimsical, fun, creative and very personal to me. just what i want my blog to be.

so i hope you like it as much as i do. and thanks blake for your clever three-year-old wordsmithing!!

the next thing i want to share is two scrapbook layouts that i did this weekend based on two recent blog posts - this one about blake and this one about michael. both of these layouts were done in photoshop elements 7 using this digital template from ali edwards. i used the same pictures and the same text from my blog post on the layouts. super easy and these pages will go directly into each of their albums once printed.

letting ideas flow

i’ve signed up for an online class at big picture scrapbooking called yesterday & today being taught by ali edwards. I love, love, love ali edwards and i am so excited about this class. the first “assignment” was to write for 15 solid minutes - no edits, no judgements - the answer to the following question....

if you were gone tomorrow, what would you want others to know about you and the life you have lived?

i was definitely a little intimidated at first as that's a pretty deep topic, but i gave it a try. i opened a blank word document on my PC, looked at the time and started typing. and much to my surprise the words just starting flowing from my head into my fingers. i was amazed how freely the ideas flowed when i focused on just capturing my thoughts. i wrote about being a mom, about my relationship with both my mother and my grandmother, the life lessons that i learned during my seven years as a waitress throughout high school and college, the importance of my career, and the role sports played in my youth. now i'm not sure that what i captured in those 15 minutes are actually THE things i'd want people to know about me, but it's a pretty good start. but more importantly i realized that just writing freely without applying filters and distilling your thoughts is very liberating. i realized that the majority of my communications in the "real" world are just that - filtered, distilled, sterile. and while that type of writing has its place, its also nice just to capture words and thoughts.

so i challenge you to do the same - pick a topic and just write for 15 minutes. no edits, no filtering, don't over-think it. just let the ideas flow and see where they take you.....