I grew up with a copy of this saying on our walls. When I got married and kids seemed like the next most logical step, my mother bought me a copy of the complete book by Dorothy Law Nolte. I gave my best friend a framed copy of this when she was pregnant with her first child. And, now that my life is full with two kids, I reference this from time to time — especially on the days where it would be so much easier to yell and scream and criticize. My kids are my most precious accomplishments and I want them to be confident, genuine, loving, strong, and know how much they are cherished.

Some good uses for this mantra would be a mini-album for expecting parents (each phrase on a separate page), a framed plaque for the wall, or you could purchase it in Wall Words and have it prominently displayed in your house. I also plan to create a scrapbook project around this saying at some point in time. It will be a great gift to pass along to my kids when they are older and maybe expecting families of their own.

What uses can you come up with? Leave a comment and tell me your ideas. In the meantime, enjoy the quote and go hug your kids.

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Children Learn What They Live
By Dorothy Law Nolte 
          If children live with criticism,
               They learn to condemn.
          If children live with hostility,
               They learn to fight.
          If children live with ridicule,
               They learn to be shy.
          If children live with shame,
               They learn to feel guilty.
          If children live with encouragement,
               They learn confidence.
          If children live with tolerance,
               They learn to be patient.
          If children live with praise,
               They learn to appreciate.
          If children live with acceptance,
               They learn to love.
          If children live with approval,
               They learn to like themselves.
          If children live with honesty,
               They learn truthfulness.
          If children live with security,
               They learn to have faith in themselves and others.
          If children live with friendliness,
               They learn the world is a nice place in which to live. 

You will find me at the Brimfield Fair and Antiques Show in Massachusetts because:

• I love it sooooo much (even in the heat),
• I always find such great things, whether or not I am looking for something particular,
• I often stumble upon great, one-of-a-kind, items for scrapbooking and/or sewing projects,
• I would like some fun, whimsical things for my gardens,
• My husband has agreed to accompany me and we never get to go together - but we have so much fun when we do (thanks to my mom for babysitting),
• I am due to get my economic stimulus check and (against my better judgement) I am going to use it to stimulate the economy,
• and, I will regret it if I don’t go. I’ll head to the beach another weekend.

I’ll be sure to post with pictures of all my goodies.
Have a great day!

I’ve been promising to show pictures of this project for a while now. Drum roll, please!

So, I was approached by a parent at my husband’s school to create a scrapbook for her daughter (a senior, and a veritable stud on the basketball court) who was graduating this year. She and I met and she had bags upon bags of newspaper clippings, magazine articles, some photos, and all kinds of memorabilia that she wanted incorporated into a scrapbook. Taking a look at all of the stuff she had collected over the years, I knew this was going to be a major undertaking.

So, one thing led to another, I wrote up a proposal, she accepted, and I got to work. The end result was an almost sixty page 12 x 12 album with a companion mini-book and hand-decorated box to hold all of her memorabilia. It was a mind-numbing amount of work…scrapbooking newspaper clippings and making it look nice and artistic is kind of challenging…but the end result was spectacular!

Here are some photos of the finished projects:

This was the 12 x 12 album, which I decorated - both front and back - with patterned paper, rub-on letters, and chalk. And then I decoupaged it all and filled it with sixty pages of scrapbook goodness.

This is the 12 x 12 album alongside the companion book. The color scheme was shades of red, white, and black — those were the school colors. The smaller companion book was called “The Keys to Q’s Success” and included a series of photos with descriptive adjectives about why she was so successful (ex: athleticism, determination, etc). For the companion book, I created it out of pieces of chipboard, used book binding tape to secure the edges, and decorated it with stamps, rub-on letters, coordinating ribbons, and this awesome felt key that I found in my travels one day.

The good news is that the family loved the project and it was a big hit at the graduation party. Just goes to show you that custom made presents are worth their weight in gold. People look at scrapbooks over and over again and the memories live forever.

If you are interested in ordering a custom scrapbook, shadowbox, invitations, or other memory project from Watermelon Rind Designs…please fill out the order form or contact me via my contact form. I create all kinds of paper/ephemera projects — no project is too big or too small.

I look forward to hearing from you!

In your honor, we will be donning our red, white, and blue, going to the beach, having some BBQ, watching some fireworks, drinking some bevvies, and being entirely grateful that we are Americans!!

So, it appears that even more time has escaped me and my blog lies dormant. You know what? I am okay with that! I have been living life; reveling in the warm air, inhaling the small day-to-day moments, spending quality time with my kids, exercising regularly, gardening, etc.
Fear not — I am still here. I still love this business. And quantity of blog posts should not be the sole indicator of where my passions lie. I am still clued in to who is releasing what at the CHA tradeshow (check out Cosmo Cricket’s new paper line…to die for). I know that Donna was on a whirlwind tour through Europe and Ali is working on some serious hybrid scrapping. And, I still have ideas and aspirations about what I want to do with this site…but my ideas remain lodged in the recesses of my brain. I honestly believe they are hiding there until I free myself from the clutter and distraction that has become my desk. Perhaps, with my tax rebate, I should finally buy that a-w-e-s-o-m-e Bedford project table from Pottery Barn and bid my clutter adieu. Maybe in the fall when the days are shorter and the beach days come to an end…

I also know I still owe you a post with pictures of that massive project I worked on in May/June. I will get to that soon…I promise.

In the meantime, please be satisfied with some eye candy. Because, right now, that’s really all I’ve got to share.

This one was from a trip to the beach. We were searching for sea glass and found what we thought was a dead starfish on the sand. We put it in a bucket of water and lo and behold! It was alive! So, we watched it for a day and then released it back into the sea. My daughter named it Sammy.

This is how we have been spending a lot of our recent summer days: at the beach. Walking, swimming, blowing bubbles, eating sandy sandwiches, digging, laughing, tanning, and just being together. It’s the good stuff. (*note the watermelon bathing suit — for obvious reasons, I am a sucker for anything with a watermelon logo/decal)

My garden is a spectacular display this year (need to take more pictures). I have an abundance of purple (and orange and pink) coneflowers, black eyed susan, astilbe, yarrow, daisies, hosta, scabiosa, and an assortment of container gardens that are just bursting with color. Gardening is much like life — it can be incredibly rewarding, yet it can also be very disappointing and frustrating. Some years there are good crops and some years, not so much.

More to come. Enjoy your days and the upcoming holiday weekend!

Yes, it is thoroughly and completely embarrassing that I haven’t updated this blog in two months. Where have I been? What have I been doing? Well, the answers to those questions are: I have been right here and I have been really busy with life. Since I last updated,

• I worked on two mammoth scrapbook projects that were due in early June (creating scrapbooks is my passion, but it can be taxing when deadlines are involved and there is a third party involved),
• I have been a 3x/week regular at Gold’s Gym (loving Zumba and Turbo Kick classes) and have been relishing the endorphin rush that accompanies a good old-fashioned sweat. My body may not look a whole lot different, but I feel different - stronger, toned, much more energetic,
• I have celebrated both of my daughter’s birthdays (where I designed/created all of the invitations),
• I’ve hit the beach a couple times,
• I’ve nursed a calf injury back to health (had a tough go-round in aforementioned Turbo Kick class one night),
• I watched all my eldest daughter’s softball games with tremendous pride,
• I went away to Savannah GA to celebrate my 10th anniversary with my husband (had the time of our lives!),
• I went antiquing at the Brimfield Fair,
• I took tons of pictures,
• I met a new baby,
• I got thoroughly blindsided at the ‘day-job’ and it took a while to recover,
• I have been trolling around Facebook,
• I’ve been watching the Celts and the Sox and loved the US Open coverage,
• I’ve been trying to adjust my budget to allow for the insane gas and grocery prices,
• I have been gardening like it’s my job. My gardens are glorious and my yard is awash in color.

All very fulfilling things…all very time consuming things.

But, I understand the need for regular posts…you want to know what is going on, what we (me and the business) are up to, and I need to provide the incentive for you to visit. So, I am going to try to be better. I think I can successfully carve out 15-20 minutes a few times a week to give you the skinny on new scrapbook projects, lots of photo love, and provide you with some worthwhile content.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I emailed my Web developer this evening to see if he was up for some site changes this summer. We’ll see what he has to say. I want to rearrange things a bit, expand the product offerings, offer in-home classes to locals, and take the site in a bit of a different direction. Now, cut me some slack. You see how busy I am, so this stuff won’t happen overnight. Just please keep in mind that custom orders are always welcome and I am always available via the contact form. And, feel free to nudge me if some time passes in between posts - I love hearing from you!

Have a great night…Go Celtics!!

I was taking a gander through the Two Peas gallery (something I don’t often have a chance to do anymore) and some work really stood out. Sometimes when I am in a rut, I will look to the gallery for inspiration and ideas.

• Here’s a cool layout about reading (I talked about this in a recent post).
• I loved the photo of an everyday item, the use of paint, and the centered stickers on this one.
• I was touched by the quote on this one, and loved the series of photos.
• This one reminded me of a picture I took of my daughter in her elephant costume when she was little. I love that you can’t see her face in the big picture. Such fun photography.
• Love the homey red and blue combo on this project. Very cute!
• I loved the bareness of this page, how everything revolved around one tiny picture of the sun. Very cool use of white space!!
• I am a huge fan of Ashley Calder’s work.

Tip for today: When you are feeling stuck, grab a copy of your favorite magazine (doesn’t have to be scrapbook related). Or, look on the message boards/galleries of some scrapbooking sites. Visit blogs. Inspiration is all around you - you needn’t look far to get the creative juices flowing again.

No matter how you slice it, there is always just a little bit of sass in just about everything she does.

 Second child. So Spunky. So Sassy. So very Shaylagh.

In many ways, I am kind of old fashioned. Where most of my life is spent in the hustle and bustle of the 21st century, I also appreciate the simple things in life. I love being unplugged and just enjoying time outdoors listening to the birds and the sounds of kids playing. I really dig looking for shapes in the clouds and feeling the sun and a warm breeze on my face. Occasionally, I will tell my husband that I want to move to the country and live on a farm (he’s not buying it). I am not one of those parents that buys their kids the latest and greatest in technology (really, why does a seven year old need a cell phone or a laptop?). Not that there is anything wrong with it, I just don’t choose to rear my kids that way. I believe in good old fashioned exercise, running around in the neighborhood, and having personal interaction with the people around us (instead of IM chats or text messages). 

And, I also am a strong proponent of reading. You can often find me with my nose in a book or a magazine. It really is one of the greatest gifts we have given our children - a love of the written word. There is something just so fulfilling about seeing my kids curl up with a book and drift off with just their imaginations and the text on the page. Each night, both of my kids pick out a couple books and read them as they drift off to sleep. My oldest is a voracious reader, devouring chapter books and never getting enough. My youngest is not yet an actual reader, but she mimics her sister and gets great enjoyment out of looking at pictures and following along as we read to her.

In this day and age, it is truly awesome to have kids that don’t need a TV, DVD player, computer game, or iPod to keep them entertained all the time. They are boosting brain power every day and are enjoying every second of it. Some of my favorite parts of the day are the times when my kids will curl up with me for a marathon reading session. And, I also love the times when they take the initiative to seek out a book on their own.

I’ve seen people do layouts that highlight their childrens’ favorite books. They either scan and print covers to talk about what their child’s favorite books are at the moment, or use a photo of their child in the act of reading. I did a layout a long time ago and used a poem to highlight how I felt about reading with my daughter. You can see the layout in my Two Peas gallery.

My advice for today: read to your kids. And then scrapbook about it.