pop culture week: rise of the guardians

disclaimer - i have yet to see les mis, so that will surely be my favorite movie in 2013.  i should also add here that i don't really remember what other movies i did see in 2012.  mostly kid flicks, i'm sure.

i know someone asked me if rise of the guardians was a risk if your kids still believe.  the answer is NO!  this movie is all about believing.  in fact, that's what i loved so much about it.  it leaves you with the deep thought of how very important it is to believe in something someone bigger than yourself.  and i'm not talking about just the bunny and the big man either.  it's important to believe.

the characterizations are simply charming.

and i will admit here that g and i were both covertly wiping tears at the end.  any movie that can make a 42 year old woman and a nine year old boy cry is surely good stuff.

if you didn't catch it in theaters over the holidays, then catch it on dvd when it comes out.  the bunny features prominently, so i'm betting it'll be released around eastertime.

pop culture week: duck dynasty

i love this show.  i had a couple friends mention it to me midway through the first season.  i caught an episode and was immediately hooked.  i haven't watched a show consistently since g was born, so nine years of not caring if i watched tv or not.  this show, well, i frantically scrambled around online looking for missed episodes and have watched it religiously since.  and i harass my friends until they give it a looksee.

i adore these guys.  during the first season when i was so caught up in indoctrinating all my friends, i remember distinctly chatting about it with a couple coworkers on our planning period.  another teacher had brought some of his kids in for testing help while i was in there talking it up.  next thing i knew, ten high school boys are hanging on my every word and one reverently states, "that's the best show on television."

i appreciate a&e.  why?  for allowing these people to maintain their integrity and for giving americans something decent to watch on television.  yes, indeed, the men tend to screwballs and screwups most of the time.  the show is hilarious and they act stupid.  it is southern redneck to the core.  but these men never swear, they respect their wives, put family first, and each episode ends with a prayer around the dinner table.

hello waltons of the modern generation.  thank you for giving me an hour of television i am proud and glad to watch with my son every wednesday night.

12 on the 11th, not the 10th

i enjoy so much looking back over my layouts from the year to choose my favorites.  i love the looking back at the stories i've told.  it's like reminiscing with myself.  ha.  anyhoo.  this first one i haven't shared here on the old blog yet, but it did make an appearance in the october jbs mercantile gallery and more recently was seen in an article on multiple visual triangles at get it scrapped!

another unshared on the blog layout (only five unshared ones left, well, except for the two new ones i made for january gallery updates and haven't posted yet, lol.  i'm getting close to caught up!)  this one includes the jbs digital cut file that made me buy the cameo.  oh how i love that cut. this one's was also part of the on trend seminar at masterful scrapbook design.

and now on to the ones you've already seen here.  i had to include at least one layout with the infamous oversized yellow flowers.  i cut those flowers from a sheet of basic grey paper and used them on three layouts!  yes i did!  and i'm hoarding the fourth!  yes i am!  and who doesn't love a beach babe brawl?  these photos totally make me laugh.  so fun to be an aunty and photograph the fights instead of breaking them up.

you've seen this one recently.  love that i got this story written down.

another that makes me laugh.  hilarious vomit splat.  thanks for the great idea louise!

adorable.  makes me happy.

sweet.  love the layering and the story-telling, and the softness.

another great story (i get lost a lot).  and so delightful to use unrelated photos to tell that story.

seriously cute.  that's me on the left.  hee.

still in love with the washi tape on the photo technique and still in love with my baby.

this one was pinterest inspired.  really love the arty feel and the title treatment.

a meaningful moment.  i love that scrapbooking adds so much emotion and meaning to the words and pictures.

so there we go.  2012 in review.  per usual, i am all over the place.  i think i used a bit more patterned paper this year?  i do see a penchant for using sentence length titles and older photos.  and perhaps i leaned a little toward soft blues, greens, and yellows.  but the chameleon scrapper is still alive and well.  here's to a great 2013!  thanks for visiting me in my scrappy world.!  :)

cha winter 2013: my contributions

jenni and jared left on an airplane today for anaheim and cha winter 2013.  i sent along these two layouts to show that showcase some of the jbs new release.  so so fun to work with and coming to stores near you around the first of february!  check out the jbs blog HERE for a video of jenni introducing the entire line.

get it scrapped: new critique groups forming!

new critique groups have opened up at get it scrapped!  celeste and i will be working with the evening session again this round, starting on january 24th.  early bird registration opened today.  you can find tons more information about the groups HERE.  it's been an amazing experience so far!

you can read more about my thoughts on using clock motifs (and the joys of scrapbooking older photos) at in this article at get it scrapped.  i also wanted to mention another quick tip here about those older photos.  i printed a lot of photos of g when he was little before i knew many photoshop skills.  those tend to be a little on the dark side, but i've recently discovered that if i sit them against a crisp white cardstock background it brightens them up a bit.  try it!  you'll like it!

this layout was originally created for the jbs mercantile november gallery with the papercrafting (main) kit and artisan add-on.  there has never been a better time to become a member at jbs mercantile!  check out this fabulous new member (and referral) offer!

pop culture week: mumford and sons

music: pardon me while i gush.  i've developed an obsession for this band.  i only learned of their existence a month or so ago.  i know.  i've been living under a rock.  i love them.  LOVE.

this is why i love them:

the layering of their instruments is amazing to me.  i've always been partial to stringed instruments, but i didn't include the banjo in that list of favorites.  oh but i do now.  the banjo creates this perpetual driving motion that underlies mumford and sons' music.  and the brass.  i would never have thought to mix horns in with a banjo.  WOW.  their music is so emotional to me.  it's this joyous celebration of life even amidst our sorrows.

and then i am a word girl.  mumford and sons' lyrics make me stop and think deep thoughts without telling me what those deep thoughts should be.  their themes embrace the big life topics, but their words are totally open for interpretation.  the music reaches me where i am right now.  tomorrow it might lead me to a different place.  they are truly gifted writers.

these words especially touch me:

it seems that all my bridges have been burnt
but you say that's exactly how this grace thing works
it's not the long walk home that will change this heart
but the welcome i receive with the restart

and i can't hear these words and not think of those precious souls at sandy hook:

 

music speaks when i can't find the words . . .

get it scrapped: annoying orange

well.  what is there to say?  hello monday!  i need to make a to do list!  and how!

btw, annoying orange will NOT be featured for pop culture week.  not my favorite.  not at all.  and if you don't know what i'm talking about then consider yourself lucky.  ha.  g likes it though.

this was another one for the on trend seminar at masterful scrapbook design.  it had something to do with tangerine being the pantone color of the year.