Layouts from Layout a Day for May 2010

Here are a few layouts from this week- 29 layouts done and uploaded, and 2 more to go. Unless something major happens, I will be finishing strong. So excited to be getting pages done again. Need to clean up my scraproom so that this is not such a big deal.

Andrea Adams, photographer, Stafford, VA

I missed yesterday's Ten on Tuesday. I was subbing, and I honestly couldn't think of 10 good things (how sad is that?) and I didn't have access to photos. So- today is a list of Summer Reading: (I apologize in advance for the differing sizes of book photos- not a computer glitch so much as a brain glitch on my part!)



The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
This book does not come out until June 1, 2010. It was in the suggested summer reading in Real Simple magazine.


Another book by the same author- I'll confess, I am drawn totally to the title.



How did you get this number? by Slowan Crosley is described as a very funny series of travel stories. It sounds like a good light read, although after last night's book club selection- I am skeptical of claims of funny. (do not waste your time on The English Major is all I'm saying.)



Admission by Jean Hanff Korelitz is the story of an ivy league admissions officer- although this one is fiction. Maybe I am just obsessed with getting the daughter into college, but this sounded good.



Generosity: an Enhancement by Richard Powers is about an unnaturally happy and contented young woman and the people who want her DNA in order to create the world's first happiness gene.


Speaking of happiness, this book by Martha Beck is intriguing to me also. Since beginning The Happiness Project, I am interested in ways to be happier. And, I like Martha Beck, new age weirdness and all.



Nine Rooms of Happiness by Lucy Danziger and Catherine Birndorf is another book on the happiness train- it is on order at my library, but I can't remember if it is already out.



The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell is the story of a girl who finds out about an aunt she never knew who has been living in a mental hospital. Apparently she showed a little too much spunk and individuality for her time.

Four others I am looking forward to reading- nothing complicated or deep, I don't think, in any of these- they just appealed to me:






Now, it is your turn to tell me what you are planning to read this summer.

Andrea Adams, Photographer, Stafford, Virginia

TEN ON TUESDAY:


1. Bible Study tonight- still have a day of homework to do and a dessert to make before then.
2. Had my second personal training appointment yesterday. I’ve been to the gym 3 times in the last 4 days- yay me!
3. Next time someone suggests bowling, remind me I am NOT ALLOWED to bowl, my back is killing me from Sunday’s outing.
4. Layout A Day is going really well- I am on Day 18 and haven’t missed yet. So far, so good. Alyssa asked me what the prize was for completing it- I told her I didn’t know, but I was pretty sure it was 31 completed layouts. I think Lain offers this 3 times a year- if you just did that, you would get almost all of your scrapbooking done for the year. I am enjoying using my supplies. I have been using things and not worrying about how many letters will be left, etc. It is nice. Here are a few of my favorites from this past week:




5. Trying to figure out how to configure my scrapbook/laundry room. Mark says my large surface is too wide, because I can’t reach to the back of it. I hate to say it, but he might be right. I plan on heading to Home Depot to see about a corner counter and two more cabinets. I’m at least going to price it out. I plan on going through all of my stuff and purging. I hope to empty the room if I can- that seems to be a key to success. I don’t know if I really have a place to put it all. I want a scrap room that looks like this:




6. The rain needs to stop- a full day of rain is about all I can overcome- the second day may not involve anything but a nap. 
7. I ordered the white cotton duck to slipcover the chair in the basement. I cannot wait to get started. If it works, I may slipcover the chair that I want to get out of my room. Plan B for that chair is to go to Tony’s apartment. The problem with the chair in the basement being that I want to make a back cushion and restuff the seat cushion.
8. Alyssa made the Varsity Dance Team again for next year. Happy for her- hoping for a year with less drama.
9. Really enjoying not going to work, but need to work out my daily schedule for working at the house. I am not being as productive as I would like to be. Thinking of looking into the Fly Lady, but I don’t want it to be a bigger hassle.
10. Got a swim suit from Land’s End yesterday. Looks pretty good- going to look for another top to go with the bottoms. Maybe have two options.

Andrea Adams, photographer, What's In Your Purse?

On several scrapbooking blogs this spring, I saw a challenge I was interested in. People had taken the contents of their purses, or briefcases or laptop cases, lined everything up gallery style, and photographed it. I kept wanting to do it, but with working full time, I just never had the time. So, on Friday, I took the picture. Here is my What's In Your Purse? picture:



Wondering at what point this will seem very quaint- I remember things from my mom's purse that I will never have in mine- a clear coin purse? a tampon container?
So what's in your purse??

Andrea Adams, photographer, Stafford, Virginia

Ten on Tuesday:

1. Mother’s Day was great. Went out to dinner at Kobe’s- managed to catch the shrimp in my mouth for the second year in a row. :)
2. One of my Mother’s Day gifts was some upside-down tomato planters. I planted the seeds yesterday. I can’t hang them upside down until they are 5” high. Hope it doesn’t take too long.

3. Mark got me a speaker set for my iPod, so I am able to listen to it all over the main floor. Currently listening to Wicked. “Are people born wicked, or do they have wickedness thrust upon them??”

4. Made an angel food cake for Bible Study tonight. Going to make sweetened whipped cream and macerate some berries to go with. (like the use of the term macerate??)

5. I am really enjoying my LOAD challenge. (Layout a Day) Every day in May, I make and upload a layout to Flickr and the LOAD group. I am starting to get better- the more I scrap, the better and faster I get. It also shows me that doing something every day can really improve your performance quickly. Need to practice writing and photography on a daily basis. Something else to add to the schedule.
6. I finally got the new bedding from Pottery Barn. I really like it. I also got the tie-backs for my curtains. I have picked out the paint, now I just need to buy it and figure out how to paint a room full of furniture while we are still living in it. I am used to painting rooms before we move in. When you don’t move for 8 years, you have to paint some stuff again.



7. Tony is still looking for a job. Heard a rumor that he had been hired, but it is yet to be confirmed. It would be with a moving company, which sounds absolutely horrible to me, but satisfies his need not to sit behind a desk or stand behind a checkout counter. (although plenty of those applications are in, too.) We’ll see what he gets.
8. Staying home is soooo much better than going to work. Fixing dinner is not such a chore when you have had all day to do little things, and you aren’t rushing to get home to get it started. Laundry gets done, things aren’t completely a wreck all of the time. (just some of the time!)
9. Mark is going through the shock you go through when you suddenly see how much Uncle Sam is taking out in taxes from your ENTIRE check, not just your “base pay.” He said this morning- “They take a third of everything I make; why should I even go to work?” I quickly reminded him- for the other 2/3s.
10. I love Chuck! If you don’t watch it, it is really getting good. Get the first couple of seasons on DVD and catch up this summer.

Andrea Adams, photographer, Stafford, Virginia

A book review:



This book was a bit of a disappointment to me. The concept is great- by thinking of others and what you can do for them, your own situation improves. There, I just saved you the trouble of reading the book. I loved the idea of it, and I wanted to love the book, but I just didn't. The author, diagnosed with MS shortly after her wedding, was very into alternate healings and religion. It was a little liberal for me, and I can usually read anything. Again, concept a little weak to maintain for an entire book. She does have a website, and with others sharing their stories, that might be an interesting place to check out.

My other challenge this month is Lain Ehman's LOAD, or layout a day. I am trying to scrapbook a layout a day every day this month. And not just scrapbook it, but upload it to flikr, too. Sometimes that is the hard part! I am still on track after a week, so that is good for me. More layouts than I have done in a while, if you don't count Mark's retirement album.

Since I don't like blog posts without pictures, here is a layout where the challenge was to use nothing but cardstock:



Can't wait to put up pictures of my bedroom when I get it all finished. Don't hold your breath- I want to paint the room first.

Andrea Adams, photographer Stafford, Virginia

I was looking at links from other blogs one day and stumbled upon Bethany Fields' blog. She is a photographer in Texas. I loved her flower photos with the textures on them. You will have to scroll down to see them- I love the ones of the lilacs. I had never seen photos like these, and I wanted to try it out. I e-mailed her and asked about the textures she was using, and those cost a lot of money. I just wanted to play around a bit. These are my first attempts at using textures on photos for an artistic effect. I got the textures for free from grungetextures.com. In the first one, I used a concrete texture:



In this one, I used a dirty metal texture:



Kind of neat, don't you think? I am trying to get more creative with my photography in order to re-energize myself. I really enjoyed working on these, so that is good. The yellow iris were from in front of the library, and the purple and white one was in a yard I passed while walking the dog.