Blog Archives July 2008

I grew up with a copy of this saying on our walls. When I got married and kids seemed like the next most logical step, my mother bought me a copy of the complete book by Dorothy Law Nolte. I gave my best friend a framed copy of this when she was pregnant with her first child. And, now that my life is full with two kids, I reference this from time to time — especially on the days where it would be so much easier to yell and scream and criticize. My kids are my most precious accomplishments and I want them to be confident, genuine, loving, strong, and know how much they are cherished.

Some good uses for this mantra would be a mini-album for expecting parents (each phrase on a separate page), a framed plaque for the wall, or you could purchase it in Wall Words and have it prominently displayed in your house. I also plan to create a scrapbook project around this saying at some point in time. It will be a great gift to pass along to my kids when they are older and maybe expecting families of their own.

What uses can you come up with? Leave a comment and tell me your ideas. In the meantime, enjoy the quote and go hug your kids.

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Children Learn What They Live
By Dorothy Law Nolte
          If children live with criticism,
               They learn to condemn.
          If children live with hostility,
               They learn to fight.
          If children live with ridicule,
               They learn to be shy.
          If children live with shame,
               They learn to feel guilty.
          If children live with encouragement,
               They learn confidence.
          If children live with tolerance,
               They learn to be patient.
          If children live with praise,
               They learn to appreciate.
          If children live with acceptance,
               They learn to love.
          If children live with approval,
               They learn to like themselves.
          If children live with honesty,
               They learn truthfulness.
          If children live with security,
               They learn to have faith in themselves and others.
          If children live with friendliness,
               They learn the world is a nice place in which to live.

You will find me at the Brimfield Fair and Antiques Show in Massachusetts because:

• I love it sooooo much (even in the heat),
• I always find such great things, whether or not I am looking for something particular,
• I often stumble upon great, one-of-a-kind, items for scrapbooking and/or sewing projects,
• I would like some fun, whimsical things for my gardens,
• My husband has agreed to accompany me and we never get to go together – but we have so much fun when we do (thanks to my mom for babysitting),
• I am due to get my economic stimulus check and (against my better judgement) I am going to use it to stimulate the economy,
• and, I will regret it if I don’t go. I’ll head to the beach another weekend.

I’ll be sure to post with pictures of all my goodies.
Have a great day!

I’ve been promising to show pictures of this project for a while now. Drum roll, please!

So, I was approached by a parent at my husband’s school to create a scrapbook for her daughter (a senior, and a veritable stud on the basketball court) who was graduating this year. She and I met and she had bags upon bags of newspaper clippings, magazine articles, some photos, and all kinds of memorabilia that she wanted incorporated into a scrapbook. Taking a look at all of the stuff she had collected over the years, I knew this was going to be a major undertaking.

So, one thing led to another, I wrote up a proposal, she accepted, and I got to work. The end result was an almost sixty page 12 x 12 album with a companion mini-book and hand-decorated box to hold all of her memorabilia. It was a mind-numbing amount of work…scrapbooking newspaper clippings and making it look nice and artistic is kind of challenging…but the end result was spectacular!

Here are some photos of the finished projects:

This was the 12 x 12 album, which I decorated – both front and back – with patterned paper, rub-on letters, and chalk. And then I decoupaged it all and filled it with sixty pages of scrapbook goodness.

This is the 12 x 12 album alongside the companion book. The color scheme was shades of red, white, and black — those were the school colors. The smaller companion book was called “The Keys to Q’s Success” and included a series of photos with descriptive adjectives about why she was so successful (ex: athleticism, determination, etc). For the companion book, I created it out of pieces of chipboard, used book binding tape to secure the edges, and decorated it with stamps, rub-on letters, coordinating ribbons, and this awesome felt key that I found in my travels one day.

The good news is that the family loved the project and it was a big hit at the graduation party. Just goes to show you that custom made presents are worth their weight in gold. People look at scrapbooks over and over again and the memories live forever.

If you are interested in ordering a custom scrapbook, shadowbox, invitations, or other memory project from Watermelon Rind Designs…please fill out the order form or contact me via my contact form. I create all kinds of paper/ephemera projects — no project is too big or too small.

I look forward to hearing from you!

In your honor, we will be donning our red, white, and blue, going to the beach, having some BBQ, watching some fireworks, drinking some bevvies, and being entirely grateful that we are Americans!!