Sunday, March 20, 2011

Spring Break projects...

I took my college's Spring Break off of work, and although it wasn't all fun, games and adhesive (I did have to do some homework for my graduate classes - yuck!), I did manage to finish and create plenty of new projects. And most of them for myself!

Live Laugh Love Play is a wire mesh and wood frame wall hanging created from pieces I had around the scrap room and stuff I found at local flea markets. I wanted a place to display photos and memories of family fun.




This was a poker-themed (huge) wall clock before I got through with it. Now it's showing off five of my favorite photos from a family photo shoot in November - and it's going on my office at work so I can remember what - and who - I am working so hard for. Those of you who were on the SoCal to Provo bus tour in 2008 may recognize the papers and embellishments: They are from Little Yellow Bicycle's Vita Bella (Beautiful Life) line. I still love it!

Kaiser's wooden flourishes and flowers have always been in my scrap room for awhile, but I could never find just the right project to use them on. I finally did when I paired some of Kaiser's papers with Creative Imagination's "Create" wood word.

I had enough scraps left over to create a house album with two Clear Scraps house-shaped acrylic albums I wire-bound together. Some Prima flowers and Heidi Swapp bling added the finishing touches - just needs photos now!


I have wanted to complete this project for awhile... I found an old window at a local flea market and added Hambly and Creative Imaginations transparencies along with photos of Rodney and I from the past 10 years of our marriage. The photos are backed with 6x8 acrylic (available through From Cover 2 Cover). Chipboard letters are from Scenic Route and Rusty Pickle, prior to their closing. And there are those wooden flourishes from Kaiser...!


Saturday, March 05, 2011

Shoot. Fire. Aim.

This is actually something I wrote a while back, but still think the basic ideas are relevant.

Start – Then have meetings!

Disorderly action is better than orderly inaction.

Shoot. Fire. Aim.

The way I work on projects is:

· * - 1) come up with an idea/goal

· * 2) figure out possible ways to accomplish the goal

· * 3) some initial research to eliminate the least likely ways to reach the goal

· * 4) dig in and get started

· Unforeseen challenges ALWAYS pop up, so switching gears and adjusting methods as you work toward your goal is normal, not the exception.

I know that not everyone works the same way, and I used to think I could embrace others’ way of completing projects. But, recently, I have found that I am not as welcoming to new processes as I have been in the past. While it may not be the absolute truth, my perception of some of my team mates is that they are more motivated by the following phrases:

Analysis by paralysis

Procrastinators: The leaders of tomorrow

Indecision is the key to flexibility.

Needless to say, the team does not work together smoothly. And I so wish it would. We could accomplish so much more! These situations have been addressed by various forms of management for at least a year now, with little or no results. Management is aware, and small steps are taken, but, really, I don’t understand why something more drastic is not done, like termination, or placing the person in a different job. That’s actually something I hope to learn in these classes – why is the removal of poor employee rarely done? This is not the only workplace I have seen this be a problem in, so there must be some universal issues. Or is this a taboo subject that could use some dialogue?

The reason I digressed to poor personnel when it comes to time management is because the team could be so much more effective and efficient with team members who understood efficiency, planning and organization. Because of their poor time management skills, those who do have good time management skills end up doing more work to make up for what the others can’t (or won’t) do, leaving the efficient employees feeling stressed out and overworked.

It is so important to hire the right people. I can see why interview processes at good companies are so long – you really need to get to know the true person as best you can before you extend them an offer. Something for me to keep in mind: Taking more time to get the right candidate to begin with can save your months of time in the future! Hire hard and manage easy. Discuss...

Friday, March 04, 2011

Back to the blog...

Well, it's been more than a year since I posted to this blog. I thought it would be time to do so. I do realize I still have followers and, to be fair, I should tell you that this blog will not just be about scrapbooking and crafting anymore, but more of a documentation of the world through my eyes. Hmm... that sounds a little deep, but you get the idea. And I'll probably toss in some humor, sarcasm and anecdotes. And, of course, some scrapbooking. I have had a love-hate relationship with my scraproom for the past year, but I have managed to create some projects...

A project shipped to Creative Escape for a charity auction.

A birthday gift for my friend and co-worker.

An album for a class that never happened.


A wall hanging kit project.


A birthday gift for a former co-worker ad fellow military wife.