karenika

Me – AMM DT Challenge

I’ve always wished I knew my parents as people so I could know all about
their childhood, their dreams, their fears, etc. I feel like they know
all about us but we rarely know about them. One of my biggest goals is
to have a few days of personal 1-1 time with each parent so I can get to
know them as the person they are and I will be crushed if, God forbid,
something happens to them before I get to do this.

So I wanted to make this challenge all about the layouts you will leave
to your kids, grand kids, your loved ones. The things about you that
make you uniquely you. It can be superficial stuff, fun stuff, serious
or sad stuff. Whatever you want. If you feel uncomfortable, feel free to
do hidden journaling. Cathy Z. has a section in her book about how
important it is to journal yourself for the other people in your life.

So here are the rules:
1. make a layout about you
2. use journaling spots, if you don’t have them, make them like i did
with stamps
3. handwrite (it’s ok, i hate my handwriting too but this is all about
giving the generations after you a way to know you and your handwriting
is a part of that)
4. use a layout size you don’t usually do. if you’re a 12×12’er do a
8.5×11 or a 6×6 or even an odd size like 10×7

Remember, this is not about making the prettiest layout with the latest
products. This is all about the journaling. I know there are those of
you out there who feel like they can’t write well or they don’t know
where to start. Just remember that your great-grand children won’t care
about any of that. They will be delighted to have any piece of you.

I did an 8×12. I purposefully left it plain to emphasize that it’s all
about the words.

Defining Moments – AMM November Kit

My minibook for Design Team work on the AMM November Kit.

So I wanted to make this book about defining moments in my life. Things
that made me who i am today. I coupled the events so if A hadn’t
happened B wouldn’t have. I put A and B on two sides of a cardboard that
I covered and put that journaling on the same page, I drilled holes on
the side of the minibook to make sure the journaling would flip back and
forth. Here are the topics:

1. My parents’ divorce and my parents’ remarriage (to each other)
2. Getting into college (CMU is my school’s name – Carnegie Mellon) and
moving to the United States
3. Meeting Jake and getting married
4. Making VP on my Wall Street job and quitting to pursue a non-profit
work (TFA is Teach For America which
is the program I did when I
quit my job – taught 5th grade)
5. Quitting TFA and having David
6. Getting my citizenship and starting my own company

Control – AMM November Kit

One of my layouts for Design Team work on the AMM November Kit.

Journaling Reads:
Little boys don’t get to control much. They don’t get a say about when
they go to bed or when they eat lunch. Sometimes they don’t even get to
pick what they eat for lunch. They don’t get to decide when we go out
and when we come back home. They can throw fits, but, in the end, they
do what Mommy and Daddy want.

It must be frustrating to be trapped in a little body when you have
demands of your own. I bet that’s why little boys love to control other
people and get a reaction out of them. You’re no exception.

When you were little, I taught you the sign and sound for lions. Over
time you made it your own and now you bend the tips of all your fingers
and move your hand forward as if you’re attacking me while you make the
roaring sound. During one of our MyGym classes you were imitating a lion
and the teacher acted like she got scared. You thought this was the
funniest thing in the world and spent the rest of the class chasing her
around and scaring her over and over again. For hours.

Months later, you still get a kick out of scaring us with your roar.
Each time I have a tendency to get impatient, I remind myself that this
is one of the few ways you get to have control and you deserve that much.

My little boy, with time, you’ll want to have more and more of a say in
how you spend each moment of your life and I promise you that I will do
my best to respect your wishes each step of the way.

Moments I Miss – AMM November Kit

One of my layouts for Design Team work on the AMM November Kit.

Journaling Reads:

I have this theory that you do something new every single day and that
by working, I actually miss a lot more than your dad says I do. He says
each day is the same: you eat, you play, you sleep and then you do it
all over again. But I know he’s wrong.

These last few weeks, I’ve had the luxury of being home with you and
last week I took you to MyGym playtime instead of your dad. We’ve been
going there for months and you’ve never ever gone in the ball pit. For
the first few months, you wouldn’t even go near it. And then you started
sitting next to it and leaning over to play with the balls.

But you still wouldn’t go in. Each time I suggested it, you said, “No!”
and walked away. So imagine my surprise when, today, you walked right to
the ball pit and jumped in. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Even when you
started sinking, you didn’t panic. You played and played and played.

Maybe Daddy doesn’t notice these little things anymore cause he gets to
be home with you every day, but, to me, these little things are the best
part of being a mom and I am so sad that I miss them each and every
single day.

Ouch – AMM November Kit

One of my layouts for Design Team work on the AMM November Kit.

It has hand journaling about how very much unprepared i am to watch
David skin his knee or any thing worse 🙁

One Day – AMM – Cloud 9 Spotlight

Here’s the minibook from the Cloud 9 Spotlight for AMM.

It’s all about a day in David’s life and the different things we do
at different times of the day and what they mean to me.

On The Go – AMM – Cloud 9 Spotlight

Here’s another one of my layouts from the Cloud 9 Spotlight for AMM.

No journaling.

Funny – AMM – Cloud 9 Spotlight

Here’s another one of my layouts from the Cloud 9 Spotlight for AMM.

Journaling Reads:
I don’t like traveling.

I definitely don’t like traveling on a plane. Not since you were born.
Not since security checks became hours long. And not since I have to
carry all your stuff and my stuff as a carry on. I used to love to fly,
but now, given the choice, I will always choose to drive somewhere than
fly there.

Last month, your dad’s brother got married in Nashville. Unfortunately,
driving there would have taken us days so we had no choice but to fly.
To make matters worse, there were no direct flights from here to there.
I may hate flying but I hate layovers ten times more. Rushing from one
plane to another, stressing about all our luggage, making it to the
flight on time, getting your car seat settled in and making sure we can
find a seat so all three of us can sit together. None of these are my
idea of fun.

So I’d been dreading the whole trip. And as we flew to Kansas City, I
whined the whole time. As I deplaned and found the next flight, I was
still twitchy and stressed out. I was so impatient that I managed to
find ways to get on your dad’s last nerve.

But, as always you came to the rescue.

While I was checking my watch to see when we’d board, you walked right
up to the metal box for checking your carryover size and climbed into
it. You sat your pretty bottom down and proceeded to read the brochure
you dad gave you. By the time I looked up, half the passengers were smiling.

I couldn’t help but do the same.

My wonderful boy, you constantly find wways to make me laugh and remind
me that there’s joy in every little moment with you.

Not Insolent – AMM – Cloud 9 Spotlight

Here’s one of my layouts from the Cloud 9 Spotlight for AMM.

Journaling Reads:
Many two-year-olds are disrespectful. Many two-year-old boys are
insolent. They don’t call it “the terrible twos” for nothing. And you
have your share of difficult moments here and there when what we want
you to do really doesn’t mesh with what you want to be doing. But you
are never outright disrespectful. Even when you want to do something
else, you wait for a cue from us that it’s okay.

A few weeks ago, we were visiting San Diego and sat down at this café
for some water. You saw a rack filled with candy and wanted to pick them
all up. When we told you to not touch and to come sit with us, you moved
away from the rack but you didn’t leave the doorway. You stood there
staring at us and looking mad.

When we asked you to come sit with us, you said “Nooooo!” but you didn’t
walk back to touch the candy either. Every few minutes, you’d walk
closer to the candy and we’d tell you that you couldn’t touch it. You’d
make a sour face but you’d also walk away. We played this game back and
forth for a good twenty minutes before you gave up and sat down with us.

David, I can’t tell you how proud of you I am for being such a wonderful
kid and being so nice to your dad and me. I know it must be hard to have
someone tell you what you can and cannot do all the time and you’re
being a complete angel about it. Even when you get angry, you still come
and give us kisses and hugs. I don’t know how we got so lucky but I want
you to know that we are fully aware of how rare you are and how blessed
we are.

Thank you, my son. Thank you.

5 Reasons Why I Love You – Last Scrapper Standing

I was lucky enough to make it to Round Three. Here’s the challenge:

Hey all! Your next challenge is to rock out with ribbon. Vintage,
scraps, sequins and trims…bust em out and use em up! We’re not looking
for a specific number or style, just EXCESSIVE ribbon usage. Something
fun, something different.

And this is what I did.