I must say! I have surprised even myself that spring has taken me away to the dark-side of non-scrapbooking-land! It's just been so easy to get carried away with all there is to do: yard work, taking long walks outside, the Survivor finale... ok, well, I could have scrapbooked during the Survivor finale. Instead I chose to sit there and be engaged in a silly show where I read an incorrect spoiler! So I thought the whole time that I knew that Danielle was going to win, and alas it was Aras! My favorite reality show author is actually Andy Denhart, who writes reality blurred and I highly recommend it!

I digress. In scrapbooking news, I must say, I am so much looking forward to this Friday night. My sister-in-law and I are having a scrap-a-thon just to ourselves. We're talking margaritas, quesadillas... maybe a little DDR (before the margaritas would probably be a good idea)... and then lots of pages to be done, my dear!

This brings me to my favorite product of the week. The PowerSort. It ROCKS.

It holds up to 2,400 5x7 photos! I have two of these puppies. And what I HAVE been doing this past week is getting a month's worth of 1995 Australia pictures sorted into this thing so I can get them scrapped this coming Friday night. I'll give you a "before and after" sense in my next entry. :)

This is a product that I would certainly utilize for anyone with bags of photographs or an unprotected hard drive full of .jpgs. If you have such a spectacle stashed away in your closet or computer, this is where I come in and save the day! Extensive Photo Organization is what I call it, and the cost will average $20/hour. I will consult with you about your organization and storage needs and provide an estimate at that time. This is one of the many services my personal scrapbooking service will offer you, and it ranks right up there with getting an album done. There is great reward in the satisfaction of having your photographs and memories organized, ready to put into albums and pass on for future generations to enjoy.

Yep, as unimaginative as it may sound, one of the rocking-est trends right now in scrapbooking is paper tearing...

Tearing your scrapbook paper is another way to add texture and dimension to your pages. This technique requires NO tools and is very easy to do. Rules for tearing: Tear toward you for a rough white edge. Tear away from you for a rough edge without the white. You can use water to draw the design to make tearing easier and use your thumb to make more intricate tears. For added dimension of your torn scrapbook paper, chalk the edges. You can roll the torn edges for an even more dimensional look. Uses for torn scrapbooking paper: Journal Blocks, Borders, Flowers, Mosaic with torn cardstock pieces, Water, Sand, Mountains, and Mats for photos.

I've used this technique in finished art as well as scrapbook layouts... it really isn't as difficult as it sounds (even for the perfectionist) and adds a fresh look to your pages.

Happy tearing!

Well, the photo really doesn't do Tom or Amy any justice... they're really much more photogenic than this... geez, I take much better pictures than this, too... but chalk it up to the unending, giddy child-without-a-leash-in-a-candy-store excitement of upgrading our computer/ ram/ memory/ short-term-WHATEVER to ONE WHOLE "GIG" - that's right, baby, ONE WHOLE "GIG"!

What does this mean, you ask? It means a personal scrapbooking service in Minneapolis has never been so fast. It means uploading images at lightening speed. It means copying photos or layouts to CD is a snap. Heck - it means being able to surf with like twelve windows open! Right now I happen to be surfing genealogy hot spots and scrap spreads of glaciers. Yes, glaciers. I have a prospective client who has challenged me to make the 500 pictures she has of glaciers look somehow different from one another... well, more to come on that.

Anyway, thanks to Tom and Amy once again for their assistance in bringing us into the 21st century computer world... :) even though Tom dropped the tower and we don't have a server in our basement... we're faring ok...

Ladies and Gentlemen! I must say - I am giddy with joy and excitement that Pass On The Memories is officially a NUMBER THREE on Google! I'm Googlized! We're Googlable! It's Googlalistic! CHECK IT OUT! Yeah, pretty cool.

So, in the hub-bub sharing my news yesterday, I may have also drummed up my first customers. As it turns out, it helps to actually TALK about your business in order to drum up customers. Who knew? :) I guess I was waiting until I felt somehow indoctrinated or blessed or given permission, but I think Google did that for me yesterday! Whoo hoo!

The past couple of days haven't been so smooth around here, to be perfectly honest. I think arranging an office ranks right up there in a marriage with the likes of taxes and entertaining in-laws. It's particularly difficult when you have, say, a Type A and Type B... an extrovert and introvert... an ENFJ and ISTP... (see the Myers & Brings website for more information...). However simple or complex you may think it is, it has been no small feat that we're still married after attempting a task like cleaning the office.

We had a perfectly lovely evening at a friends' home last night... good conversation, no dishes to do, and home at a reasonable hour so the kiddos could get to bed. I asked briefly if Duane would help me move "one" thing... and I was, perhaps, being optimistic (which I like to be) and a bit sneaky (which is just a fact). There was more than one thing, if I were to be honest... and well, I like being that too, so there you have it.

Well, the situation went from great to tolerable to not-so-wonderful in like six minutes. We approach tasks such as these SO differently... it's almost ridiculous. We went to bed with the office looking something like this:


Then my husband made a wonderful observation this morning: if we can't do something like this together - well - then, one of us should take care of the task. And, since I wasn't about to give up detagling the mess I'd created (some sort of cord-envy, I'm sure...), then that means it was me.

And I would say the boys and I had a very productive morning! Between them playing "spaceship" and somehow being convinced it's FUN to move mommy and daddy's two hundred hard-backed books, we got a lot done!

See, to the left of where the printer now stands, there was a 5 1/2 foot x three level bookshelf that was FULL. So, in addition to moving all of that, I took four bags of recycling out to the garage, and I think we're set!

Here's to the start of the journey... being able to blog about the custom-made treasures I'm going to make for you... :)