Attitude, gratitude, and all that stuff

Every day is a lesson in gratitude.  At least it should be - if for no other reason than to remember that there's always someone who has it worse - usually multiple people.  As a family (my extended family), we all got together the other day and packed a bunch of shoe boxes to send to needy children all around the world.  We've all done it most every year for several years now, but this was the first time we all got together and packed them together.  Talk about a house overflowing with blessings! Family, a lot of love, a collective spirit of giving, and enjoying what we were all sending to these (not) forgotten children. Does it get any better?

So fun to see what everybody got!

You can tell my dad is really into it!

This theme coincides with my first tip for you all who are looking for some motivation as well ways to stretch every dollar.

There is a song with a line that I have always loved:  It's not about getting what you want, but wanting what you have. Isn't that great? So, the one dollar question (I don't have a million dollars...do you? Ha!) is what is your tip of the day?  Here goes...

Use what you have!  How many of you have a stash of supplies around that you haven't used much of? Some of it still has tags and/or the original packaging on it. You got it or bought it all excited, just sure you would use it every day, well maybe a couple times a week, well okay, at least once a week.  Then you tell yourself, "You know, I can get a lot done if I focus one or two days a month...."  Raise your hand if this is a conversation you've had with yourself. C'mon, admit it...you know you have. So, I ask again, raise your hand if this is something you've told yourself.  If you could see me through the computer, you would see my hand raised.  I've had those thoughts multiple times.  Sometimes, it lasts weeks, sometimes months, and yes, sometimes even years. 

Another page frim Hannah's high school scrapbook.

 Know what gets me going again?  It's going through all that I have and thus remembering all the great stuff I've collected over the years.  That usually means a bit of reorganizing and cleaning "house" (my scrap area), which is also good for the budget as well as motivation - more on that in a future post. Obviously, using what you have means you aren't spending money.  That's the best way to stay within your budget!  

If you think you don't have much, or even enough supplies, you would be surprised with how creative you can be when you just own the basics and slowly build your collection.  I will be posting more on that in the near future also.  In the meantime, take a deep breath, go to where all your paper craft supplies are and start sorting!  Take your time and enjoy it. Renew your vision(s)!  Renew your excitement and start "wanting what you have" already. 

 Have a fantastic week, and don't forget to live, laugh, love, and scrap!  

A Glimpse of Some of My Real Life Scrapbooks

I made scrapbooks for my daughter's school years, right up until her graduation in 2014. I hadn't looked through them in quite a while. I was looking through them the other evening while my daughter was visiting, and I said out loud to her, "Dang, I did good with these!"  She rolled her eyes and said, "Ok, Mom, whatever."  As a family, we have a sarcastic sense of humor - very sarcastic - so I knew she didn't mean it, and it actually made me smile. She knows better - and so do I.  It was fun to see the improvement in my scrapbooking through the years.  Now, I did not keep up with these scrapbooks each year, or even every two or three years. They were done in several spurts, and - confession here - I am still not completely done with her high school book! But there were enough years in between to see how I grew as a crafter and scrapbooker.  See for yourself in some of these pics. Dang, I did good! 

Where did the name of my blog come from?

WELCOME! So, where DID the name come from? Most of you have probably seen signs or decor with the phrase "Live, Laugh, Love."  


I have one on my wall that says, "LIVE well, LAUGH often, LOVE much."  I have always loved that.  It seems to sum up a joyful life in six relatively small words.  Anyone who can do those things, even through the difficult times, will find joy through their pain AND through their smiles, whichever is applicable, no matter what. 

Scrapbooking is my happy place. I love doing it, and I love thinking about it and coming up with new ideas.  I love sharing my talent with others - as gifts or as items for sale.  And lastly, of course I love sharing it through teaching - tips, ideas, techniques, etc.  So, I have included "SCRAP everything" as part of my mantra. LIVE well, LAUGH often, LOVE much, and SCRAP everything. That's too long for a title, and especially for a domain name.  Can you imagine livewelllaughoftenlovemuchandscrapeverything.com?! So, I picked out the key words and came up with Live, Laugh, Love - and Scrap. For our domain, I shortened it even a little more by taking out the dash and the "and."  

So, welcome to www.livelaughlovescrap.com where you will hopefully learn how to have as much fun as I have with scrapbooking and other paper crafts for a number of years now. You'll learn MY tips and tricks to fit scrapbooking in your financial and time budget. Welcome to the big leagues, baby!