Mothers Day Scrapbook Layout Challenge
April 27, 2012 by Cijaye
Filed under Digital Scrapbooking Layouts, Fun Scrapbook Challenges, Quick Scrapbooking Articles, Scrapbook Layouts
Now that was a mouthfull! Say that 100x. 
Tee Hee.
Okay. Now seriously – if you want to make something really special for mom this year (or even a very close friend, like I did) and you want to challenge your scrapbooking skills to new lengths…I’ve decided to pin some great ideas and layout challenges for your enjoyment:
Mothers Day Scrapbook Challenges and Cool Craft Ideas
Need a little more inspiration to add to your page too?
Check this long list of Mom Poems, Mom Titles, Quotes, Cards, Pages, Products and so on from Scrapbook.com
Poetry Website Offers Formerly Private Online Poetry Workshops to…
April 24, 2012 by Cijaye
Filed under World Crafts News
Our online poetry workshops provide 24/7 access to the classroom from anywhere there’s an internet connection and a device to receive it.
New York, NY (PRWEB) April 24, 2012
The Rooster Moans Poetry Cooperative (poetrycoop.com) is pleased to offer its formerly private online poetry workshops to the public. The site will provide continuous month-long poetry workshops on a wide range of themes, taught by leading and bestselling contemporary authors Amy King, Maureen Alsop, Melissa Studdard, Steven Teref, and more. During April, National Poetry Month, a 10% discount will be offered on all workshops.
Online poetry workshops offered in 2012 swing from the practical (“Writing a Poetic Sequence” and “Rattling the Cage: Forms and Repetition”) to the experimental (“Poet’s Theater” and “Poetry of the 6th Dimension”). Workshops on ekphrastic, persona, and prose poems, the fairy tale poem, science and poetry, and nuclear poetics are also among the offerings “in its clutch,” according to founder and artistic director Lissa Kiernan.
Since its inception in 2007, the site’s poetry workshops were a closely-kept secret; available only by word-of-mouth and to contributors of Arsenic Lobster Poetry Journal, where Kiernan moonlights as poetry editor. A Brooklyn-based poet and a web developer by trade, she decided to take the site public last year when, after graduating from Stonecoast’s low-residency MFA program, she and far-flung classmates began to lament the loss of their poetry community and the lack of post-graduate continuing education options.
She noted: “While there are ample opportunities to take poetry workshops in cities with universities or literary arts centers, many people have no access to poetry education nor a locus for reliable feedback from trusted readers. Our online poetry workshops provide 24/7 access to the classroom from anywhere there’s an internet connection and a device to receive it.” The site has also been re-engineered from a simple phpBB bulletin board to the more powerful and design-friendly open-source Drupal platform, she added.
The Rooster Moans’ workshops last four weeks, with lessons and poems posted and critiqued weekly in a password-protected space. Posting lessons in weekly increments, Kiernan said, allows the concepts to sink in as the poets work on generating their poems. While targeted to those with intermediate-to-advanced experience, the cooperative welcomes beginners and writers from other genres, too.
“We subscribe to the seven guiding principles of cooperatives: education and training, choice, voice, and non-discrimination, to name a few,” Kiernan explained. “And for those considering an MFA program, particularly low- or no-residency ones, our workshops are a great way to test the waters. The University of Texas at El Paso, for example, now offers an MFA program that is fully online. The Chicago School of Poetics offers online workshops, too, though they use a web conferencing format, while ours are asynchronous.”
Asynchronous learning is a format that uses online resources to facilitate a global network of information-sharing, as well as emphasizing the importance of peer-to-peer feedback. “Behind our tagline ‘workshops that work’ is the belief that our workshops our effective, but also the belief that all poets need good readers. Often the best way to train your eye to see your own work critically is to help another poet see their poem with fresh eyes,” Kiernan advised. Asynchronous learning also fosters cross-cultural communication, bypassing the constraints of time and space, and has a positive effect on the environment by reducing the carbon footprint of its community, she added.
Teaching artists include a MacArthur Scholar, MFA and environmental ethics professors, award-winning poets, literary journal editors, a bestselling novelist, a nationally acclaimed slam poet, and two poetry bordello performers. Teachers in 2012 include Chris Crittenden, Joshua Davis, Brenda Mann Hammack, Alexandra van de Kamp, Sara Tracey, Karrie Waarala, and Susan Yount, in addition to Alsop, Kiernan, King, Studdard and Teref.
Quoting a line from Jim Harrison’s poem “Rooster” in explanation of the cooperative’s memorable name, Kiernan quipped “Isn’t the worthless rooster the poet’s bird brother?” She added “The poet, like the rooster, urges everyone to wake up, bear witness, and be alive.”
The Rooster Moans Poetry Cooperative provides MFA-caliber online poetry workshops that promote, foster and inspire the reading and writing of poetry by (a) facilitating a cross-cultural network of information-sharing on the art of poetry, (b) providing an asynchronous education setting in which teaching artists and students exchange ideas and information at the convenience of their own schedules, from their own homes, reducing their impact on the environment, (c) encouraging peer-to-peer feedback amongst members, and (d) helping develop the voices of underserved poets by offering several free workshops each year.
Mothers Day Scrapbook
April 23, 2012 by Cijaye
Filed under Fun Scrapbook Challenges, Paper Scrapbooking Layouts, Quick Scrapbooking Articles
That time of year is rapidly approaching now. You have less than a month to plan and prepare for that perfect mothers day. So how are you going to treat your mom this year?
(Yes, you can plan for your own mother’s day as well… but lets focus on your mom right now.)
You could treat her to a spa day for sure. What MOM doesn’t appreciate that. But what if a spa day is a little out of the price range? Or what if that’s NOT your mom’s sort of thing?
The answer is make a Mothers Day SCRAPBOOK of course.
You can make 1 page or you can make an entire album. You have time. Your scrapbook for mom can also be as simple or as intricate as you want it to be. The only rule is: it must be FOR MOM!
So ask yourself the following questions before you get started:
1) What is moms main character type?
2) Is she classy & formal in an old fashioned way? *If so, then she would probably like a very classy scrapbook page or album. Possibly with soft and elegant floral print papers and lace, pearls or jewels for embellishments.
3) Is she corporate and business like? *If so then mom would probably like a very modern contemporary look and feel. This mom’s scrapbook would include lots of geometric shapes, structured / neutral color blends (blacks, whites, reds, & grays or browns, beige’s, whites or blues, gray’s and whites with brown accents etc). Nothing too crazy when it comes to embellishments though, so keep it simple. Stick with one ribbon per page, or a few simple tabs (office style or ribbon style). She might also appreciate hidden journaling (under pictures or embellishments). (Keep this one clean and organized).
4) Is she casual and / or down to earth? * If so, your moms scrapbook can probably include any color theme (including those above) and any embellishments can go! This page or album can be as simple OR as cluttered as you want it to be. Have fun; these are my favorites.
5) or…would your mom be pegged more as a WoodStock Woman or a Merrit Music Fest Kinda Gal? *If you answered WoodStock you should probably take advantage of the great psychedelic works out there. Tie Dies, Pop Art, Wild Multi-Colored Geometrics. Etc. Lots of vibrant colors, paisleys, peace symbols, and even the more earthier elements like hand made accents.
*If your mom is a Merrit Music Fest (Country Music Festival) kinda gal…she might appreciate some of the more rugged types of Scrapbook items. Sure she will appreciate a few flowers (wild flowers of course) and some foilage – but she will also dig the distressed, crackle, mega texturizing that you can do to the pages or accents as well. She will probably appreciate accents like mesh, leather, suede, big buttons, brads and random objects. Don’t be afraid to throw some charcoal and wood into the mix as well. Let alone the old pop can and fruit tin tabs. (Those are great!!!).
Whatever Mom is like, make sure that when you make your Mothers Day Scrapbook (page or album) for her that it stays true to who she is.
Happy Scrapping~! Happy Mother’s Day!
P.S. Don’t forget to post your finished scrapbooks for mom on our gallery. We would LOVE to see them!
Easier Die Cutting with Cricut and Cara Miller
April 11, 2012 by Cijaye
Filed under Digital Scrapbooking Layouts, Other Goodies You Might Like, Paper Scrapbooking Layouts, Tools
Today’s blog post is from Guest Blogger and Die Cutting Expert Cara Miller.
Her goal is to help you make your Cricut die cutting easier! ScrapbookingDirections.com is very excited to have her share her “laser sharp” expertise and we do hope to have her contribute more in the future.
BTW: Your comments below will help both of us know that you want to hear more from her too.
Here’s what Cara has to say about today’s share Step Up Your Die Cuts:
“Hi Cara Miller here. I am a scrapbooking teacher, plain and simple. I love helping folks fall in love with their Cricut
I teach classes online and in person and I have created Whispers too! A Whisper? Yes, a whisper in the scrapbooking world is set of “cheat” cards that help you use your Cricut
But before I get to that, let me ask you something?
Have you ever struggled with your Cricut
So how do you get there? Well, many times the images that you see on your Cricut cartridges are a bit too simple to make your combinations conceivable and they don’t show you all of your options in the booklet…that in and of itself is the problem. Too little keys, too many functions, not enough guidance (at least not all the time). The bad news is, this won’t necessarily change because the Cricut is built to have multiple functions for each key and there are too many options for them to share everything they can in their basic package! It’s quite a brilliant machine really, but complex. And I get that.
The good news is , there is a simple fix and I am going to help you get through it RIGHT NOW! You just have to think outside the box that’s all. If you are ready for it, I have the perfect whisper to help you do that!
This video Whisper I am about to share is the next best thing to having me email or post mail my own personal whisper cards to you so that you can create the most wonderful expressions with your Cricut
You just have to see for yourself what I mean.
But first things first, gather your supplies: You will need your Cricut ( The Original, Expression, Create or E2 or Imagine), your card stock, your choice adhesive(s), a mat and ruler and your favorite cartridge.
BTW: For this video I used the Walk in My Garden cartridge but you can use any cartridge with a card creative feature. Also, I was cutting a daffodil card so I used green and yellow cardstock and my favorite inks for edging. One more thing: I love foam dots to add dimension to my cards too – so these were also used in this video.
Step Up Your Die Cuts
Step up your Cricut Die Cuts from Cara Miller on Vimeo.
Please comment below to let me know what you think?
Mom Quotes for Scrapbooking
April 8, 2012 by Cijaye
Filed under Other Goodies You Might Like, Quotes for Scrapbooking
Looking for some digital papers, flowers and brads for your next mother scrapbooking project? These mom quotes and scrapbook images would be perfect for ANY mom!
OR….are you simply looking for some Mom Quotes to put in your existing Scrapbook?
Will any of these work?
A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie. ~Tenneva Jordan
Hundreds of dewdrops to greet the dawn,
Hundreds of bees in the purple clover,
Hundreds of butterflies on the lawn,
But only one mother the wide world over.
~George CooperBeing a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs… since the payment is pure love. ~Mildred B. Vermont
The sweetest sounds to mortals given
Are heard in Mother, Home, and Heaven.
~William Goldsmith Brown
A suburban mother’s role is to deliver children obstetrically once, and by car forever after. ~Peter De Vries
If the whole world were put into one scale, and my mother in the other, the whole world would kick the beam. ~Lord Langdale (Henry Bickersteth)
All mothers are working mothers. ~Author Unknown
It would seem that something which means poverty, disorder and violence every single day should be avoided entirely, but the desire to beget children is a natural urge. ~Phyllis Diller
The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new. ~Rajneesh
Woman in the home has not yet lost her dignity, in spite of Mother’s Day, with its offensive implication that our love needs an annual nudging, like our enthusiasm for the battle of Bunker Hill. ~John Erskine
A Freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your mother. ~Author Unknown
Sweater, n.: garment worn by child when its mother is feeling chilly. ~Ambrose Bierce
Women’s Liberation is just a lot of foolishness. It’s the men who are discriminated against. They can’t bear children. And no one’s likely to do anything about that. ~Golda Meir
All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That’s his. ~Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest, 1895
When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child. ~Sophia Loren, Women and Beauty
Mothers are fonder than fathers of their children because they are more certain they are their own. ~Aristotle
Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible. ~Marion C. Garretty, quoted in A Little Spoonful of Chicken Soup for the Mother’s Soul
Mother – that was the bank where we deposited all our hurts and worries. ~T. DeWitt Talmage
A man’s work is from sun to sun, but a mother’s work is never done. ~Author Unknown
A man loves his sweetheart the most, his wife the best, but his mother the longest. ~Irish Proverb
The real religion of the world comes from women much more than from men – from mothers most of all, who carry the key of our souls in their bosoms. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes
God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers. ~Jewish Proverb
Motherhood is priced
Of God, at price no man may dare
To lessen or misunderstand.
~Helen Hunt JacksonBiology is the least of what makes someone a mother. ~Oprah Winfrey
You don’t really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at his parents every time around – and why his parents will always wave back. ~William D. Tammeus
Now that… my kids are grown, I understand how much work and love it takes to raise and to keep a family together. The example of your strength, devotion, and patience is now rippling through the generations. Thank you! ~Forest Houtenschil
My mom is a neverending song in my heart of comfort, happiness, and being. I may sometimes forget the words but I always remember the tune. ~Graycie Harmon
Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ~Elizabeth Stone
Before I got married I had six theories about bringing up children; now I have six children, and no theories. ~John Wilmot
Parents often talk about the younger generation as if they didn’t have anything to do with it. ~Haim Ginott
Are we not like two volumes of one book? ~Marceline Desbordes-Valmore
It kills you to see them grow up. But I guess it would kill you quicker if they didn’t. ~Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams
Who fed me from her gentle breast
And hushed me in her arms to rest,
And on my cheek sweet kisses prest?
My Mother.
~Anne Taylor
On Mother’s Day I have written a poem for you. In the interest of poetic economy and truth, I have succeeded in concentrating my deepest feelings and beliefs into two perfectly crafted lines: You’re my mother, I would have no other! ~Forest Houtenschil
Children are a great comfort in your old age – and they help you reach it faster, too. ~Lionel Kauffman
Sing out loud in the car even, or especially, if it embarrasses your children. ~Marilyn Penland
Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children. ~Charles R. Swindoll, The Strong Family
Now the thing about having a baby – and I can’t be the first person to have noticed this – is that thereafter you have it. ~Jean Kerr
There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it. ~Chinese Proverb
Never raise your hand to your kids. It leaves your groin unprotected. ~Red Buttons
If nature had arranged that husbands and wives should have children alternatively, there would never be more than three in a family. ~Lawrence Housman
Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children. ~William Makepeace Thackeray
Insanity is hereditary; you get it from your children. ~Sam Levenson
The one thing children wear out faster than shoes is parents. ~John J. Plomp
Setting a good example for your children takes all the fun out of middle age. ~William Feather, The Business of Life, 1949
Your responsibility as a parent is not as great as you might imagine. You need not supply the world with the next conqueror of disease or major motion-picture star. If your child simply grows up to be someone who does not use the word “collectible” as a noun, you can consider yourself an unqualified success. ~Fran Lebowitz, “Parental Guidance,” Social Studies, 1981
This heart, my own dear mother, bends,
With love’s true instinct, back to thee!
~Thomas Moore
Getting down on all fours and imitating a rhinoceros stops babies from crying. (Put an empty cigarette pack on your nose for a horn and make loud “snort” noises.) I don’t know why parents don’t do this more often. Usually it makes the kid laugh. Sometimes it sends him into shock. Either way it quiets him down. If you’re a parent, acting like a rhino has another advantage. Keep it up until the kid is a teenager and he definitely won’t have his friends hanging around your house all the time. ~P.J. O’Rourke
I don’t care how poor a man is; if he has family, he’s rich. ~Dan Wilcox and Thad Mumford, M*A*S*H, “Identity Crisis,”
Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away. ~Dinah Craik
Where we love is home – home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit. ~Albert Schweitzer
You can always tell a real friend: when you’ve made a fool of yourself he doesn’t feel you’ve done a permanent job. ~Laurence J. Peter
Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. ~Marcel Proust
If I had a single flower for every time I think about you, I could walk forever in my garden. ~Attributed to Claudia Ghandi
Source: http://www.quotegarden.com/mom-day.html
