It's all apart of life's pageant

Every Monday Matters - Party with a Purpose

12 - Party with a Purpose

FACTS:

• every week there are...5,812,037 birthdays
• 42,884 weddings
• 79,623 births
• Birthdays are the #1 reason people celebrate
• There are millions of other gift-giving/receiving occasions every year, such as bat and bar mitzvahs, graduations, funerals, retirements, and debutante balls.
• Every year, nearly 140 million people purchase and/or receive a gift card with an average value of $59.
• $747 is the average amount spent annually on holiday gifts.

Take ACTION today:

1. Select a charity, cause, or purpose you wish to support
2. Decide which holiday or occasion for which you would like your friends and family to make a donation instead of giving you a gift.
3. Provide your friends and family with the proper information to make their giving easier - web site, phone number or address. I am seeing more and more wedding invites this year with this request in lieu of traditional gifts.
4. If there is not a specific reason for having a party, make one up. Simply have guests bring a food dish or beverage along with money for your charity of choice or for someone in need.

YOU MATTER
If everyone gives up their birthday gifts this year, $3 billion dollars or more can be donated to worthy causes or needy people. Friends and family donating money in your name can be much more rewarding than getting material gifts. Giving is a lot more gratifying than receiving, no matter the occasion.

Wine & Wags | Salem, OR

Getting ready for this event this weekend! If you are local and want to do a mini shoot come and see me here.

Garden World | 10506 Broadacres Road Northeast | Hubbard, OR 97032 | (503) 982-2380

Inspiration | Scrapbooking

I am working on five albums as gifts to my girlfriends - the album documents our trip to Maui for my 40th birthday. I am inspired by Ali's mini album project here and this gal - Christine Middlecamp. HOly COW! Have you been following her Embellished Paper Doily tutorials?!!! At first when I looked at them I was just in awe - amazed by 'heavily embellished style'. I knew I had to try her technique out on these gift albums...

They are embellished thick and let's talk about using up some of your stash! The only thing that I bought new were the Martha Stewart Doilys.

Lots of foam dots - I am sure you have plenty of these! This was really fun to do and I was inspired by #12 on Christine's blog. Not sure if I am going to put these on the front of the albums or on the inside. I don't think they would hold up to well on the outside.

I am in the process of prepping the albums - painting them brown so it mimics wood.

  to be continued...

Every Monday Matters - Register to VOTE

11 - REGISTER to VOTE!

71 million eligible voters didn't vote in the 2004 presidential election. Also in the 2004 election 89% of registered women voted - this is only 65.4% of all women.

If you are a woman and not registered to vote (in the United States) I recommend that you watch the HBO Film Iron Jawed Angels. It is a true story about Alice Paul and Lucy Burns. These two women secured our rights to vote in 1920 - this was not an easy battle to wage back then. But when you see what they did for women's rights you will feel even more compelled to register to vote. It's a privilege that women haven't had for very long - let's make sure that we keep it.

TAKE ACTION TODAY

1. Register to vote online
2. Register in person at your local DMV, state offices providing public assistance or programs for the disabled, official campaign headquarters, armed forces recruitment offices, public libraries, post offices, public high schools, and universities.
3. Pay attention to the registration deadlines in your state to ensure that you register in time to vote.
4. Make sure your friends, family , co-workers, or fellow students are registered.
5. Get informed on the issues and candidates.
6. VOTE

YOU MATTER
The numbers don't lie...registered voters vote. Are you registered?

Garage Sale | More photos

Get the details here.

Garage Sale | Saturday, June 19th

Don't forget if you are in the area we are having our annual garage sale this Saturday! LOTs of scrapbooking supplies that are priced to walk away with you - shabby/antique items - books - home decor - TVs - vacuums - area rugs - ETC.

We are doing this one day only from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM  - here is a sneak peek of what we have ready!

17501/17505 SE 22nd Drive, Vancouver, WA 98683

Cemeteries | Unlikely inspiration

A couple of days after Memorial Day I ventured down to one of the oldest cemeteries in Clark County - called the Fisher Cemetery. It happens to be very close to where I live and always remembered it growing up in the area.

Cemeteries are not one of my favorite or top places to visit - in fact I have issues/problems with death. So to find myself going down there by myself was incredibly out of character. What motivated me? Believe it or not something as simple as a prompt on a photography site. I receive their weekly emails and love their weekend assignment prompts. But I was truly moved by some of the photos that were being posted.

While I wished I would have gone earlier in the morning or later in the afternoon for better light - I think I would have been to freaked out if the light was too moody.

What I realized was that there was some amazing texture in the cemetery...

The design elements on some of the older tombstones were worn but still detailed...
Julina passed away 93 years before I was born. Then I found this grave site of twins that died on the same day...While I was taking all of these photos (over 100) my thoughts were I was going to post process them into B&W and give them an ethereal look. When I sat down to edit, I was surprised that I kept most of them in color. I really loved the different colors of gray, dark greens of the moss and yellows of the lichen.
This was the oldest grave in the cemetery...I believe Alva was only four months old.
This was totally unexpected find - humor in the cemetery. I have no idea what the story is behind this...

My photo prompt for you this week is go to the cemetery - if anything I can guarantee it will be a peaceful place and if you need some quiet time this is the place to go. 

[most all of the photos were taken with my 85mm lens, 1/500, f5.0, ISO 100 except for the last photo - that was taken with my iPhone using Best Camera app]

Summer Fun | Finally!

Last weekend was hopefully the start of summer for the Pacific NW - while I really don't count on great weather until after the 4th, this spring has been awful. More like winter than spring!

Here are a couple of blurry shots of my niece in her new pool - she loves to be thrown in the air by her dad, even when she belly flops! Remember those summer days when you stayed in the water or ran through the sprinklers until your skin wrinkled? This was one of those great summer days...

 After a day in the pool and BBQ I came home and slept for ten hours!

Every Monday Matters

10 Change Your Lightbulbs

The Facts

• Replacing 1 bulb prevents the release of 300 pounds of carbon dioxide in just 1 year.
  • Switching just 1 bulb in every household would reduce carbon dioxide by 90 billion pounds a year.
• 75% less energy is used with an ENERGY STAR - labeled compact fluorescent lightbulb (CFL) compared to a standard incandescent bulb.
• CFLs last up to 10 times longer and save $30 over the life of the bulb
• If every home replaces 5 frequently used lightbulbs with CFLs, close to $8 billion a year in energy costs could be saved.

TAKE ACTION TODAY

1. Buy a package of CFL bulbs today.
2. Refer to the lumen or light output on the product packaging as your guide to determine correct wattage
3. Replace at least 1 regular lightbulb with a CFL bulb. The more bulbs you change, the better it is for the environment and your wallet.
4. Place qualified CFLs in the fixtures you use most frequently - figure out your cost savings!
5. Use qualified CFLs in the fixtures that are hard to reach such as ceiling fans, other ceiling fixtures, and enclosed outdoor fixtures.
6. Call your local waste management company to ask for proper disposal methods: CFL bulbs should not be thrown away in your home or office garbage can. Many major retailers also offer take-back programs

You Matter
The amount of pollution equivalent to the emissions of two million cars can be removed from the atomosphere if every household in America replaces one lightbulb with an ENERGY STAR - qualified CFL bulb.

One bulb. Will you do it? How about five?

Etsy | Vintage Wallpaper Silhouettes

I have been collecting vintage wallpaper for several years. Rolls and rolls of it. Never really having a plan or project for it. I was going to cover some books with it but most of it is very fragile and wouldn't hold up very well. I also thought about covering a cork board with it - but really how many cork boards can you have?? ;)

Then I wanted to make cards with the wallpaper - covering the whole front side of the card and lining the envelope. I like the look but wanted something different. After experimenting with a few ideas, I have now started a line of notecards [available in my Etsy store] that combine my love of dogs, vintage and sending out handwritten notes...

The line is not just limited to dogs - here is a sneak peek of the new hummingbird note cards that will be in the Etsy store soon!