Yeah, Write

Loving My Photos

What do I love most about taking photos?

Watching the passage of time.

Capturing evolving relationships.

Preserving precious interactions.

These two photos span six short months, from the moment Jeremy picked Jovie out of that litter of two and cuddled her tiny self (her entire body no bigger than his hand) in the car before we left for home—to a moment a few weeks ago that shows how much she has grown, and how much she has grown on Jeremy. 

Would you like to fall in love with your pictures all over again? The talented Shimelle Laine has offered one Yeah, Write reader a free spot in her upcoming online class, Love Your Pictures, Love Your Pages.

Just leave me a comment explaining what you love most about photography (or any photo you've taken), and I'll pick a random winner next week!

Kicking Myself with my Mismatched Socks

Today is a BIG deadline, and I missed it.

Nope, I'm not referring to the looming IRS-related deadline that has Americans everywhere in a last-minute panic. (I panicked about that last month.) I'm talking about something much more crucial to our nation's well being—the Project Sock Design Contest.

The very weekend after I blogged about this contest, I spent Sunday afternoon designing sock after sock after sock with my arsenal of colored pencils—and feeling like a kid again. The creative energy was so palpable that Jeremy couldn't help joining in too, and we even convinced Travis to design a pair...er, trio.

Well, it turns out that entries have to be received at 307 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY by 6 p.m. EST today. And I just found our forms, waiting patiently on top of the Epson Artisan printer for me to haul them to the post office. Not gonna happen.

So, please enjoy the fruits of our sock-decorating labors!

Angie's fruit-inspired design features pears, cherries, and blueberries.

With the food theme firmly planted in her head (was I hungry that day?), Angie went on to design breakfast socks featuring eggs, bacon, and oranges.

Not to be outdone, Jeremy drew upon his math skills and designed a trio of socks featuring different iconic equations. Teenagers everyone would surely snap these up, in hopes of cheating on upcoming math exams.

Despite repeated reminders to "think girly," Travis couldn't help putting firearms on his socks. Eh, I'd probably still wear them. If the guns were pink, that is.

Contest or not, it was fun, freeing, and incredibly energizing for the three of us to band together and think outside the sock. (Sorry! I couldn't help myself!)

My Life: A Monthly Quiz Album

Here's an album I worked on over the course of my 33rd year. And now that another birthday has come and gone, I'm prepared to share it with you! It's so simple.

Here's how:

1. Print and trim out the same quiz 15 times (you only need 12 copies for your album, but you're bound to mess up on a couple). To download the 4 x 6 quiz I used, visit the Ella blog today.

2. Choose a coordinated product line, and spend an evening setting up 12 pages or spreads, all following an identical design scheme to save time and stress. Leave spaces on each page for journaling and photos.

3. On the last day of each month, fill in your answers to the quiz, and choose a couple of pictures from the month to go with it. Add them to your album.

And it goes on from here for six more months.

Enjoying this quiz approach? Remember to download the exact quiz I used over at the Ella blog. And while you're there, get a dozen or so completely original (and fun!) quizzes in the eBook I co-authored with Wendy Smedley, Quick & Creative Quizzes, at ellapublishing.com. You can even win a free copy of this eBook on the Ella blog today!

p.s. If you persevered through ALL that journaling, and you thought I sounded a bit conceited when I said, "The Lord loves me," I'd like to clarify. Yes, I believe the Lord loves me, but He also loves everyone else too (including you). Just so we're on the same page about my perceived humility (or lack thereof).

April 1st

Behold my layout for today's Write.Click.Scrapbook. gallery!

The theme this month is "connections," and this layout shows how I gathered nine different photos of my mom (one with each grandchild) and included them all on one layout. The oldest grandchild, the adorable Haylee, called my mom "Eema" instead of "grandma" when she was tiny. The nickname has stuck for almost 10 years now. Many of the photos aren't fabulously lit or composed, but when you shrink them and gather them all together in one place, it doesn't matter so much.

My favorite layouts in the WCS gallery this month are from Aly Dosdall, Jody Dent-Pruks, Emily Pitts, Moon Ko, Lisa Dickinson, Beth Proudfoot, and ... I don't know why I started naming favorites, because they're ALL so amazing. The connections topic really speaks to me; these layouts show exactly why I scrapbook. Head there now!

Want Free Stuff? 

Enter the PBS Faces of America giveaway at Write.Click.Scrapbook. today.

Win an awesome $130 Daylight lamp, or a $75 lamp, at The Daily Trumpet today.

There's still time to enter the Clickin' Moms membership giveaway at The Daily Trumpet yesterday.

April Fool's?
I'm not fooling about anything you've read on this blog today. As far fetched as the above may seem, my mom's nickname is really "Eema," today really is April 1st, and those giveaways are all totally real. I do have a fun joke to play on certain individuals in my life later today, but I can't share it yet lest I spoil the "surprise."

Earlier today, Trav did say, "You know who played the best April Fool's joke this year? Mother nature." Yeah, we have 6 inches of snow in our backyard. Be gone, ye wicked white fluffy stuff! Be gone!

Got Socks Appeal?

Project Sock Design Contest
From Little Missmatched
Entry deadline: April 15

This is the kind of creativity exercise that might push you out of your comfort zone, and that's a GOOD thing! There's nothing like a bit of old-fashioned doodling, drawing, and coloring to unleash your inner child. (For proof, just read Stacy Julian's UR2 Cre8ive eBook.)

Here's what you do: Use your colored pencils or your favorite design program to design a three-pack of mismatched socks. Finalists will be posted on the Little Miss Matched website, and readers will vote for the winners. Six winners will have their designs turned into actual socks; five of them will also get a $250 cash prize, and the grand-prize winner will get a $1,000 cash prize. 

This whole thing ties right in with something we talked about in Monday's ReneeTV chat. Here's an inspiring quote that I mentioned on air:

"You don't have to be young to think young. Schedule a playdate—with yourself. Pick up a new tool (video camera, paintbrush, spatula) and use it without an agenda. Try something you've never done before (plant a garden, give a speech, design socks) without judgment.... The best way to open your mind is to apply a jolt of unfamiliarity."
~The Big Moo: Stop Trying to Be Perfect and Start Being Remarkable, edited by Seth Godin ["design socks" suggestion added to the quote by moi]

I think I might enter!

And I'm pretty sure I can convince my artistic husband and stepson to create their own versions too. Sounds like a fun family activity for a quiet Sunday. What about you—are you in?

Click here for details!

p.s. If you missed Monday's ReneeTV chat and would like to watch, go to Reneepearson.com, click on ReneeTV, register with a username if necessary, then click OnDemand in the video window, and choose your episode!

Embarrassing Photo from My Past

Why am I sharing this?

Good question. Well, it was a runner-up for inclusion in my article for the March issue of Scrapbook Ellaments, but it didn't quite make the cut. While I have plenty to say about this layout, I think I'll keep most of it to myself, because the commentary on the page itself tells you far more than you really wanted to know in the first place. It's just a good thing that I had these traffic stickers on hand, because they really add something, don't they? (And I'd rather not define what that "something" is.)

But I will say this: I had completely forgotten about story #4 that I shared on this page. A guy named Chris fixed The Poo Van's flat tire in a WalMart parking lot in my college town. He got my phone number so he could make sure I got to my apartment all right, and then he called and sang "One Enchanted Evening" to me on the phone. I never heard from him again, and I was okay with that. (This is why we write things down, folks. It's because of treasures like this.)

And I will also say this: Enormous sunglasses were so NOT the trend when this photo was taken in 1998. I remember making endless fun of my mom for wearing such gargantuan sunglasses. Well, she has since been vindicated. She was about 6 years ahead of the curve. Go mom!

Big Sunglasses Today


Rachel Gainer and me stopped at a stoplight in Centerville in 2007. Note: car was NOT in motion. Driver's eyes were open. Driver was appropriately safe and cautious.

My sister Michele, me, and Gilli-beans on the beach in California. Wendy snapped this picture just after the CHA Winter tradeshow in February 2009.


Some tv personality named Mark who crashed a li'l hotel-room get-together that some friends threw at CHA Winter 2010. Wearing sunglasses. I believe he was brought in to surprise someone (maybe Stephenie?) who is a big fan of his, but I don't think he got the reception he expected. He burst into the room grandly. People looked over for a second, and then went back to their conversations and photo-ops. In the end, everyone managed to make him feel welcome. I think.

Oh Yeah!
Don't forget to pop over to Ella Publishing Co. today to read the latest edition of Scrapbook Ellaments. It's always entertaining. Always informative. Always free.


(Note: This is the reason I started this post in the first place, before I got distracted by the style evolution of summertime eye wear. Eh, I just went with it.)

In Conclusion

The random winner from Tuesday's UR2 Cre8ive contest is...commenter #1! (That never happens.) Go Stefani Meyer! Coupon code coming atcha.

Free Things for You

You know what they say, "Free things are better than things that cost money."

Okay, no one I know actually says that. I think it's "The best things in life are free" that I'm thinking of. Yeah, that's it. 

With that in mind, please enjoy:

• The latest FREE episode of The Paperclipping Roundtable, featuring Noell Hyman, Izzy Hyman, Stacy Julian, Nancy Nally, and me. (Tip: If you listen to the whole thing, you WILL hear my 3-year-old nephew interrupt the broadcast to say, "Angie, I gotta go poo-poo." Thanks Payton. I did warn everyone in advance that I had a 3- and 5-year-old in my care that day, and I did try to keep them occupied with Shrek 3 and a bowl of popcorn. But when you're three years old and nature calls, what can you do?)


• A very robust and very FREE digital scrapbooking kit ("A New Day") by Sweet Shoppe that was offered on The Daily Trumpet blog yesterday. Download it today!


• A FREE giveaway for the awesome Stretch Your Sketches eBook that's happening today at A Matter of Memories. And the lovely Jill gives it quite a glowing review.


• An opportunity to win a FREE spot in Molly Newman's upcoming digital organization class ("Get it Together. Keep it Together.") on reneepearson.com. Visit The Daily Trumpet today to enter.

Now, I will leave you with the immortal words of  En Vogue:
"Free your mind and the rest will follow."

Wise words.

Hopes and Fears

Wow, what an unexpectedly inspiring round of comments I got back from each of you! I realized something important as I was reading through your responses: each of them is a perfect little gem; a tiny essay that encapsulates so much of who you are and what matters most to you right at this moment. That kind of knowledge is a beautiful thing.

Who knew that you fears would say so much about us? And it occurs to me now that our greatest fears are often the exact opposite of our greatest hopes. You accomplish the same goal by identifying one or the other.

Every single one of you who commented could take the statement you wrote and expand on it in your journal or on a scrapbook page. This is different from a resolution or a goal, because admitting our hopes and our fears acknowledges our lack of control over the outer world. We all do our best to make sense of the incoming and the outgoing and to respond to new challenges and opportunities with our best efforts—but our responses are often the only power we have.

We can't control other people; we can't control the weather; we can't control the economy or world governments; we can't control the earth's fault lines. But we can respond with courage and integrity and purpose and authenticity—we can be present in our lives and reach out when we can.

Here are some of your hopes and fears:

Lee said, "My greatest hope for 2010 is that we manage to survive one more year with everyone in the house talking. Slowly we are being overrun by teens and pre-teens and I hope they continue to be open, honest and engaging. My greatest fear is that they don't." 

Leah said, "My greatest hope this year is that I get accepted to do my Masters and my greatest fear is that I get accepted to do my Masters."

Marty said, "My greatest hope is that my adopted kids continue to heal from their traumas."
(That sentence both breaks my heart and revives my faith in humanity. Thank you Marty for giving those kids a chance.)

Anne said, "I hope that my new baby granddaughter arrives safely and that she's healthy and gorgeous!"

Chris said, "My greatest hope is selfish. I want a happy, healthy family. In 14 1/2 months I lost my sister in a car accident, my mother fell and died 3 months later from complications, and my 47-year-old husband had a stroke. Rough times and I am hoping and praying for better days ahead."
(This doesn't sound one bit selfish to me. My heart goes out to you, Chris.)

Mellisa said, "My greatest HOPE is that I will become pregnant again. My greatest FEAR is that it will end in yet another loss."

Katie said, "My greatest hope for this year is a calmer, happier me. And my greatest fear is losing a close friend of mine who is fighting breast cancer."

Kelli said, "My greatest fear is that my husband who has been traveling A LOT over the last several years will have the opportunity to be home more with us on a daily basis. That being said, my biggest fear is that my husband will be home with us on daily basis... ;)"
(Everything is a mixed blessing, isn't it???)

Jennifer said, "My greatest hope is for the safe return of all our soldiers and for everyone to be at a good place in their own lives."

Rebecca said, "My greatest hope is to find a job, a new home to live in with my family. My greatest fear we don't get a job and will be forced to move in with parents. (11 months of unemployment is really old!)"

Betty said, "My greatest hope for 2010 is that this will be the year my 7 yr old son finally speaks so my loving DH can hear the word Daddy for the first time..."

Katherine said, "My greatest hope for 2010 is that the drought is over and we have a successful crop in each field and that the Cotton Gin has more than enough business to make up for the past 3 years of extremely severe drought."

Migdalis said, "My greatest hope for this year is to keep walking even if the world around me is falling apart!!!"

Jodee said, "My greatest hope for 2010 is that my hubby realizes his potential and starts his own business. He is kind of hesitant right now."

Margie said, "My greatest hope for 2010 is that I feel more peace than fear. And that I remember my blessings in this moment. It sounds cliche, but it's cliche for a reason! And I have to add that I hope the same for others, especially those with extreme difficulty these days. We've all been there and I hope they find relief & peace sooner than later."

Doesn't this list give you an amazing perspective on your own life and on other people's challenges and blessings?

I am very touched. Thank you, everyone.

p.s. This feels a bit anticlimactic now, but Random.org gave the random number 77, which came from Laura. I'll email the winner her prize!

Win an Ella eBook

Before Ella's exciting new January eBook goes on sale next week, I wanted to give you one more chance to win a free copy of our popular December eBook, A Year in the Life: Scrapbook your year in 24 simple layouts!

Authored by the geniuses at the Write. Click. Scrapbook. collective, this eBook is chock full of two-page, multi-photo layout ideas. There are two for every month. Seriously, if you just create the 24 layouts in this eBook, you can consider an entire year documented in style! Check that goal off, then move on to whatever is inspiring you at the moment....

Leave me a comment describing what your greatest HOPE for 2010 is and/or your greatest FEAR. I'll pick one random winner who'll get a free copy of this little beauty here.

(Note: click on the cover above to see a sneak peek of this eBook and read the complete description!)

Quirky Gifts for $12 or Less

1. Love checklists? Here's your chance to check off important goals like "name your sofa" or "make a topographical map of your bathroom." I wonder how many people have accomplished all 172 items? That's worth $7 to me. Buy it here.

2. A Charlie Brown t-shirt. There is a surprising variety of these for sale at Amazon.com. They're all yellow-and-black of course, but the style of the zig-zag fluctuates, and they come in all imaginable sizes and prices, starting at $11.95.

 
3. Huge photo-corner stickers for your wall. What a great way to hang up kids' artwork, photos, and more! $8.95 at Annie's Blue-Ribbon General Store.

4. Cubic switch plates from The Curiosity Shoppe. In the right home, these would look amazing. Is my home the "right home"? Hmm...I don't know. But I'd like to be this cool.

5. What kid wouldn't love a set of Monster Hands? This temporary tattoo kit can provide hours of fun for $8.25. Stocking stuffer anyone? Or break up the package and give one tattoo to each of your kid's friends or cousins!

6. Become a better decision maker with this knock-knock.biz Decision Kit, on sale for $10.50. As the website says: "You’ll have every tool you need to make all manner of decisions. Includes oh-so-useful Pro-Con, Gut Feelings, and Next Steps pads, an 'I decided today!' pin, and so much more." (If they run out or the shipping is too expensive, you can also find it at Amazon.com.)

7. Haven't you always wanted your own Book of Secrets? Well, if you don't live a life of high intrigue, just pick up this little book and live vicariously. Here's the description: "The Book of Secrets reveals hundreds of clandestine, covert, surreptitious, furtive, hush-hush, and taboo pop-cultural and historical curiosities, from government cover-ups to marketing tricks to Colonel Sander's secret recipe." $5.99 at ThinkGeek.com.

8. And here's a non-quirky gift you can buy for yourself! Let the Write. Click. Scrapbook. crew show you how to capture a full year of memories in just 24 layouts (most of which are multi-photo, two-page spreads). It just went on sale today ($6.99), and it's fabulous. Read the full description and see a sneak peek here. Leave me a comment today, and I'll pick a random winner who will receive a free copy of Ella's latest eBook!

Happy last-minute holiday shopping everyone!