Julie’s Blog

It’s 7am when I stretch and roll out of bed. I don’t need an alarm in Summer because floor to ceiling windows face East and that’s the time when the sun starts to stream thru the blinds. First job is to put the kettle on for a cup of tea then let the dog out and make a pot of coffee. I watch the news on GMA, check e-mail and am usually in my body by 8:15 when my daughter drops off my one year old granddaughter. Jovie’s walking now, so we play outside for about an hour then have a second round of breakfast. Nap time rolls around shortly thereafter, so I have about 2 hours to re-check e-mail, make/return phone calls, put in a load of laundry and jump in the shower.

Nap time is usually over about noon, so now we have lunch, then run errands, or go to the park all depending on the weather. It’s been too hot this past week to be outside a lot in the afternoon. 100 deg weather is like living in an oven when you’re outside and there’s no pool….. not for me at least. I do have a baby one, but Jovie has a cold this week, so the dr said to keep her out of the water. Way too soon, it’s time to take Jovie home. Mommy has already picked up her brother from school, so they’re both waiting for us when we get there. Now it’s time to play with Dylan. Speedracer is the name of the game and we spend 30 mins racing cars up and down the hallway - rest assured, by this time Dylan is doing all the racing. 5pm rolls around and it’s time to head home to make dinner. My husband is retired and makes his own lunch, but 95% of the time I cook dinner each evening for us both - the Food Network has become very inspiring. I even have 3 barrels of herbs in the back yard. I tried growing tomatoes last year, but it was too hot or something and they died. After dinner I clean up the kitchen, finish up the laundry I started earlier, pick up toys then relax on the back porch for a few minutes. It’s about 10pm before I get to check my e-mail again and there it is……… an invitation from Ellen to join a mom’s group on Twitter. Since I’m a “grandmom” I’m flattered that she thought of me, but when would I have time? Today wasn’t very busy, but there was still no time for even a lonesome tweet, never mind log on to the Twitter site. How do these folks do it…… it’s hard enough for me to find time to blog, let alone twitter.

The internet is a wonderful thing and I can’t imagine a life without my computer, but there is so much going on out there in the world wide web, I wonder if anybody does anything in the real world any more. So, no “tweets” from me I’m afraid. I think if you’ve read thru this blog entry, you’ll realize there isn’t very much for me to tweet about any way.

Have a fun and fabulous day!

Yours truly,
Julie

Romeo passed away at the vet’s office on Saturday evening. He was 12 years old. For those of you who have watched the show over the past 12 years, you’ll know that Romeo was my daughter’s husky - 100lb of lovable fur and the subject of a plethora of projects for Scrapbook Memories and magazine features. One of my favorite photos is of Romeo as a puppy, sitting on the top step of our pool, literally “cooling his buns”. He was a big part of our lives for a long time and we will miss him very, very much.

Yours truly,
Julie

I’ve been so busy it’s hard to believe I got home from taping the new series of Scrapbook Memories two weeks ago! It was a blast as always. We have so much fun taping the show, but the days are so fast and furious we don’t always realize how much fun till later. We had great guests as always and I got to present some projects too. You’ll have to watch out for my Photo Block holiday ornament. I need to work on my tassel making skills…… they’re really very easy, but for some reason I was all thumbs that afternoon and couldn’t even tie a knot! I’ll refer to that segment as the hassle with the tassel.

We had some new and returning guests for this series. Julie Stephani was back and Julie Fei Fan Balzer, so every time someone said “Julie” they got 3 responses - in the end I went back to my nickname and said to “just call me Jules”………. now everyone is wondering who “Jules” is. I wish you could take a peek into the Green room some time. It really is green. Each time I’m there, I intend to take photos to post, but Beth and I are flying in and out changing clothes, collecting projects, helping guests, etc. that I just forget. BUT, this time I have a treat for you…. Julie #3 (Balzer) is a great blogger and has photos of it all… so if you want a sneak peek behind the scenes of the show, visit her blog @ www.balzerdesigns.typepad.com.

Most of our guests are in and out in one day, but Julie #3 didn’t leave until the next day, so after we wrapped the show (and Julie helped us pack up) we went for a quick trip to Chagrin Falls. It was great to be able to spend time with a guest and chit chat - so, if you see that my blog has moved over to typepad, you’ll know why - Julie has inspired me to do more on the internet. For some reason photos won’t load at this blog site so even if I did have photos to share, you wouldn’t be able to see them anyway… duh…. I can even load short videos at typepad, so I may do one on “How to Make a Tassel”.

Series 1500 will start to air in September, so check your local PBS listings. I always watch on BYU on #374 on Direct TV, so you’ll probably see the new shows before I do. It airs every day at 1pm CST and on Saturdays. The show has been on the air for 12 years now and, of course, there’s more to come. 12 years is a long time - it means I’ve taped 299 half hour shows! That’s a lot of shows in TV Land. Each series has been different and the next series will be different again. Creativity is always changing; that’s what makes it fun and inspiring. On the down side, it means I’m 12 years older too, which isn’t always quite as much fun, or as inspiring. I still love what I do however. I’ve been a “crafter” ever since I can remember - I am always making something. Creativity has always been a part of who I am and, I hope, always will be.

Yours truly,
Julie

Wow, this month has turned out to be a little overwhelming. I had a birthday with a surprise visit from my sister, it was Mothers’ day last Sunday and I’m prepping for the new series of Scrapbook Memories which we’ll be taping next week, which also means I’ll be out of town. I’ll be back the 23rd and immediately have to start work on a booklet that has to be at the printers by the end of the month; that means projects, instructions, layout and design……..whew! So this is it for now - sorry. There’s so much about May memories to share - May Day parades, Maypole dancing, etcetera, etcetera, but that will have to wait for later. You’ll survive and I hope I will too!!! Have a gloriously, fabulously, brilliant day!

Yours truly,
Julie

Spring is always a good time to sort out, re-arrange and go through umpteen thousand things that have accumulated over the past year. I think I’m supposed to throw things away too, to make room for things I will no doubt collect this year, but “re-arranging” works for me. It’s my way of being “green”.

When I was sorting though my piles of scrapbook paper I found a package of “Thomas the Tank Engine” paper and embellishments. My grandson is a big fan and I wondered why I had never used it to scrapbook the adorable photos I have of him on his visit to “Thomas” and riding his own Thomas train. I could do so much with this!! In fact I could do so much with most of the supplies I had. Herein lies the problem. I have so many ideas I never know what to do first. My mum had a saying for this, she called it being “spoiled for choice” - when a person has too many choices they end up not making a decision at all. This is me all over. I’m working on projects right now for the new series of Scrapbook Memories. I start with one idea, which blossoms into another, then another and another until my final project ends up being nothing like the idea I started with. There are so many things I can do with a certain tool, paper, embellishment, etc. it becomes overwhelming. I’m sure this is true for so many scrapbookers. They are so overwhelmed with a plethora of supplies and ideas it’s hard to know where to start. I looked at my wedding album a few weeks ago. It was so simple and so easy to put together. Even back then I was creative in the way I added photos. The photos were matted and I embellished the pages with pressed flowers from my bouquet and even used the sixpence that I wore in my shoe. It was probably finished in one evening, bearing in mind I only had about 24 photos to work with. Just to compare, I probably have over 300 photos of my daughters wedding - and don’t you know - they’re all fabulous…… And, those that might not be quite up to snuff can easily be “photo shopped” into shape. Well, I had better get back to Spring “re-arranging”. At the rate I’m going, it’ll be next Spring before I’m finished.

Yours truly,
Julie

“The March wind doth blow and we shall have snow…” goes a poem that always pops into my head when I think of March. We don’t get too much snow around here, but winds are a whole other subject. We actually lost a gazebo one year! It was really a tornado that picked it up and deposited it in the neighbours’ yard, but wind is wind, whether it’s in a straight line or swirling….. I’m obviously not a meteorologist.

Last Sunday was pretty exciting. I was surrounded by a whirlwind of activity created by, what seemed like dozens of 3 year olds! Believe me, there’s nothing like it. It lasted about 2 hours and after surviving my grandson’s birthday party, I had a new respect for being a mom of a 3 year old. God in His infinite wisdom certainly knew what he was doing when he gave babies to the young. It also made me realize more than anything that I am not in my twenties any more…. The cure for getting older is definitely not to have children, because it’s only as we see our children grow and have children of their own that it hits us squarely in the head that a whole bunch of years have gone flying by. When all said and done, I wouldn’t trade those years for anything - even the not so fun ones. Life is the greatest adventure on earth; a combination of Survivor, The Bachelor and Dancing with the Stars. It’s about survival, emotions and definitely lots of fun.

They say that if March comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb and vice versa. It was pretty quiet around here on March 1st except for yelling “White Rabbit” before uttering any other words first thing in the morning. Something else I remember from my childhood, a whole eternity ago.

Whether you end the month with a lion or a lamb, depending of course, where you are in the world, I hope you enjoy it to the fullest. Each day comes but once in a lifetime - so enjoy!

Yours truly,
Julie

For some reason it was considered lucky to say “White Rabbit” before uttering any other words on March 1st. I have no idea why. It’s kinda like throwing a pinch of salt over your left shoulder if you spill some. I’m sure there’s a long forgotten, and probably quite sensible reason for some of these oddball things we do without even thinking about why we do them. I have to admit though, I never remember to say White Rabbit on the first of March. My first words are usually, “why did you set the alarm”, or “oh no, it’s morning already!” whatever day of the month it might be.

Sorry it’s taken me so long to blog again. I promised an update about CHA, but I was very underwhelmed this year. That’s not to say there weren’t some great products, there were - this is a creative industry after all, but even though I loved the show, I left it a little flat this time. I’ve been going to this trade show since 1991, so, as you can imagine, I have seen a lot of creativity over the years and some years are just more exciting than others.

There are always lots of demos at the show and one of the most exciting was Barb Bosler’s glass etching demo in the Quickutz booth. I did a presentation on the technique for a recent series of Scrapbook Memories. I used the Silhouette to create my own stencil, then used the etching cream to etch the design on a float glass frame. I’ve been a fan of this etching product for a long time and I love being able to create my own stencil. As a decorative painter I used the dip’n etch liquid to etch glass plates then I’d decorate them. You might have seen my book, Garden of Glassware published by Leisure Arts which featured a number of etched glass projects. I digress as usual - back to the show. Wendy at Tattered Angels is doing a terrific job with her product line. It’s fun, innovative and creative. She has added so many new and exciting things this year. Another favourite product is the Crafters’ Companion. It’s a British company from “up North” which is my neck of the woods, but honestly I’m not biased - they won a CHA award for their product, so I’m not the only one who thought it was just “brilliant”.

Overall I would say that the show has become much more “crafty” in the past few years. When scrapbooking started to gain national popularity in the mid 90’s, there was a definite division between scrapbookers and crafters. I’m not sure why. To me scrapbooking was just another craft like knitting, card making, or decorative painting. It was all about being creative in whatever medium one liked to use. Just my personal opinion of course. I am a crafter - I love all kinds of creativity. I can sew, draw, paint, knit, crochet, tat (with a shuttle), embroider both with threads and silk ribbon and of all the books I wrote, I have to say that “Seaside Treasures” was my favourite. All the projects were created with shells. I have collected shells from every beach I’ve walked along since I was old enough to know what they were and I just adore Sailor’s Valentines. These are mosaic type pictures created entirely with shells by sailors for the loved ones they left behind when they set sail. Okay, I’m digressing again - back to the show. Each year it’s becoming more crafty. There is SO much you can with paper, and yes I love paper crafting too. Scrapbooking is, however, a part of my love of photography. I received my first camera at age 11 and I have been taking photographs ever since. I won’t say for how long. Suffice to say it was a Brownie Reflex camera and used 620 film. I bet most of you don’t even know what that was……….. I now own a digital camera (and, yes, I still have my 35mm), but because of digital photography and from using publishing programs on my Mac to write books, I have learned how creative we can be with a computer. I have to say that with Adobe programs I have found my “element” - gotta get a pun in there somewhere. Forms of paper crafting have been around, probably since paper was invented. Découpage springs to mind and, do you remember Paper Tole from the 70’s. That was 3-D paper crafting and so much fun. We also used to create pop-up cards and origami animals, etc. I think I made about 100 swans one year for Christmas. Mine weren’t totally traditional though, I seem to remember adding feathers and glitter - no right way or wrong way when we’re crafting, right, it’s all about creativity. Yes, I know, I digressed again.

I also went PMA this year. This is a trade show for photographers. I spent time drooling over cameras at Canon, Fuji, Nikon and Olympus, but there was also a lot of other interesting products to see. The photography market seems as if it should be a natural sibling for the scrapbooking market since scrapbooks are all about photographs and the stories they illustrate. The only product that seemed to cross over, however, was albums. Canon exhibited at CHA too, but the focus was more on their creative website and printers. I wonder if they think that cameras are unimportant to scrapbookers….. just a thought.

Yours truly,
Julie

Better late than never - right……. Can’t believe it’s already the 13th! How are your New Year’s resolutions coming along? A couple of years ago my New Year’s resolution was not to make any. It was nice to make a list at the beginning of each year about things I wanted to do, etc., but life gets in the ways some times, then I’d feel guilty for not living up to my expectations. I definitely don’t need guilt trips, especially the ones I put on myself.

When I decided to enter the world of bloggers, I wasn’t really sure why I would want to do something like that and I’m still not sure I’m on the right track. I must admit I’m full of useless information, but there’s enough of that out there without my adding to it. So, this year I’m working on short “how to” craft videos for you. I wrote a feature column for a crafts magazine for about 10 years, entitled “Julie’s Shoebox Crafts“. It was basically a series of crafts made from stuff easily found around the house. Since this is the year of recycling, I thought it might be fun to show how to make these on a video. At least I’m willing to give it a try. Now please don’t expect to see anything for a few weeks; the light at the end of the tunnel was a freight train and the caboose is still nowhere in sight. I’ll definitely post a link here when I’ve figured out how to upload, etc. Let me know if there’s anything you’d like to see.

The Arts and Crafts trade show (CHA) is at the end of this month too, so I’ll give you a run down on what’s new, fabulous and fun when I get back!

Have a healthy, happy, prosperous and a very blessed New Year!

Yours truly,
Julie

My granddaughter is now 6 months old. We took both grandchildren to see Santa this past weekend and, of course, we took photos. As I downloaded them this evening, I noticed that I now had over 5,000 photos on my computer. Hmmm…. I wonder how much space they’re taking up since all my pix are hi res, but, more importantly, whenever am I going to find the time to print some of them!!!! I love my digital cameras, but the advantages of digital are also the disadvantages. I find myself recording literally hundreds of life’s moments, but can’t bear to hit the delete button, so, here they are, ALL OF THEM, on my computer, AND, in some instances, on my laptop.

I have always enjoyed photography and never tire of looking through photos I’ve taken over the years. I’m enamored with the possibilities digital photography has to offer. It’s creative, fun, instantly gratifying and, what my Yorkshire roots love best, economical. I still have my 35mm camera and vowed that I would continue to use it alongside the digital, but digital is just too easy and I have fallen off the film wagon. I am painfully aware, however, that all these moments may be lost forever, if I don’t PRINT THEM OUT! One flash of lightning and any tangible reminder of all those special moments will be gone forever. Copying them to CDs is not an adequate storage solution either, since one scratch can erase a lifetime. Not only that, who knows what kind of storage media we’ll be using 5 to 10 years from now. Only a few years ago I was using floppy discs, and ZIP discs. I still have the discs, but the computer with the appropriate disc drives is long gone. Remembering to copy jpegs onto new media each time I upgrade would be a chore and not only that, each time a file is copied, information is lost so photos would inevitably begin to deteriorate. Keeping up would definitely be a challenge. I have an external hard drive and once a month copy photos on to that as a backup, but it could also be wiped out in a New York minute.

The other day I found negatives of photos taken before 1950 - hey, they’re almost 60 years old! All the images were safe and sound. Wish I could feel as secure about the photos I took only yesterday………… maybe this is the push to print that I sorely needed. I just might have to make it my New Year’s resolution to print photos at least once a week. I wonder how long it will take to go through over 5,000 - and that doesn’t include the ones I’ll be taking at Christmas!

Have a very blessed holiday season!

Yours truly,
Julie

Busy, busy, busy…… just when I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel, I realize it’s a freight train!

We taped Series 1400 of Scrapbook Memories this month. That means I’ve been hosting the show for 7 years now and was a host of More than Memories for 4 years before that. 11 years in TV talk means 286 half shows not bad for a wee Yorkshire lass. One of our guests, Ellen Marden, taped a short video on the set between segments. This is the link if you’d like to check it out. Enjoy!     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW-S1jAwIYo

I’m also scheduled to be on the Terri O radio show on Thursday, Oct 30th. Click on Let’s Talk at: http://www.aterrioshow.com

And here’s a happy note for the day. On Thursday, October the 30th it will be exactly 8 weeks to Christmas!

BTW: Don’t forget to set your clocks back this weekend - Fall back, Spring Forward…… This is definitely the best weekend of the year - freight train on its way or not, I get an extra hour in bed!

Yours truly,
Julie