1st Place, Baby!

Wow. Wow. That's all I can say at this point as I'm STILL in a state of euphoria! My team knocked it out of the park on Saturday at their OM competition and took 1st place in their division (there were a total of 16 teams competing)! But even more exciting than that (can you believe we get more excited about something other than taking 1st place?) is my team was honored with the most coveted OM award that is given out at competition. It's called the Ranatra Fusca Creativity Award and is presented to teams or individuals who exhibit exceptional creativity, either through some aspect of their problem solution, or an extraordinary idea beyond the problem solution. Judges write up nominations based on what they witness throughout the day and then vote for the winner(s). In our case, there happened to be four awarded that day and our team received one of those four! We are honored, humble and thankful for all the blessings and support our team has experienced!

It was a day to remember and a day filled with joyful tears! The suspense at the end of the day finding out who the winners are...there were two coaches and seven kids who were just about having a heart attack waiting for the announcement of winners. You see, they start out with 6th place and announce all the teams from all problems in all three divisions (there were 5 problems) in 6th, then they move to 5th place, then 4th and on and on.  As soon as they finish announcing all the 2nd place winners, they stop for a few minutes to give out what they call the OMer Awards. When THAT'S finished, they announce the 1st place winners. We don't know our scores at that point so once your team hasn't been called and they're preparing to announce the winners, we say it's either "1st or crap!" We ended up with 1st!

Now we prepare to move on to State competition in April (with much more practicing so my presence on-line will be limited!), so until we find out if we move on to World's from there, I won't be posting any videos yet (it's not allowed!). As soon as I am able, I would love to share it here so you can see how hard these talented kids worked! Until then, here's a picture of our team in costume in front of set at State competition...

Odyssey of the Mind

Oh my goodness. I looked back to see that my last post was a long time ago! Terrible. Just terrible. But I haven't been shirking my duties for no reason at all. You see, I have been spending all my waking moments as well as sleeping moments DREAMING about my Odyssey of the Mind team that I'm coaching this year.

What IS Odyssey of the Mind?  The Odyssey of the Mind teaches students to learn creative problem-solving methods while having fun in the process. For more than twenty five years, this unique program has helped teachers generate excitement in their students. By tapping into creativity, and through encouraging imaginative paths to problem-solving, students learn skills that will provide them with the ability to solve problems -- great and small -- for a lifetime. The Odyssey of the Mind teaches students how to think divergently by providing open-ended problems that appeal to a wide range of interests. Students learn how to identify challenges and to think creatively to solve those problems. They are free to express their ideas and suggestions without fear of criticism. The creative problem-solving process rewards thinking "outside of the box." While conventional thinking has an important place in a well-rounded education, students need to learn how to think creatively and productively.

The Odyssey of the Mind has its roots in the Industrial Design classes of Dr. Sam Micklus, Odyssey of the Mind founder. As a professor at Rowan University in New Jersey (formerly Glassboro State College) Dr. Micklus challenged his students to create vehicles without wheels, mechanical pie throwers and flotation devices that would take them across a course on a lake. He evaluated them not on the success of their solutions, but on the ingenuity applied and the risk involved in trying something new and different. Students had fun. Word spread and the students' activities attracted attention from the local media. Soon, people on the outside wanted a part of the action. This public interest led to the development of a creative problem-solving competition for school children. The Odyssey of the Mind was on its way. Since then, Dr. Micklus's life has been happily consumed with developing problems for other people to solve. His rewards are in the joy and pride of the millions of participants who rise to the challenge of solving those problems.

OM has been such a huge part of my daughter's life these last 3 years (my daughter seen here creating a "banner" made out of drink pouches by sewing them together for her team's 2012 problem!) and, as a coach of the team, has had a huge impact on MY life! If you'd like more information about OM, please don't hesitate to read up about this fantastic organization and all it can do for your child. Amazing!

With all that being said, I am currently coaching a 2013 team of 7-5th graders and their Regional competition is this Saturday, March 9th. As soon as that's over, I'll be somewhat back to my normal self and will continue posting whatever crosses my mind (oh, that's just down right frightening at times!) but if my team moves on to the State competition, I'll be with them practicing, practicing and more practicing! I'll keep you posted and hope to post their long term performance video here (have to wait until after competition, though, as it's truly top-secret!). Until then, have fun scrapping and capturing those precious memories...

iPod Valentine Cards

I was busy making iPod-like Valentines and finished them yesterday. You ever make something and it just seems as though it's not quite right? Yeah, that was the problem. You see, I try to get as many items on a page that I can to control printing. I used an 8 1/2" x 11" page initially and really should have used landscape to begin with!  I was able to fit 3 on a page instead of just one now in landscape. Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout! (I have watched Despicable Me quite a few times. That and Si.)

Here's the new Valentine I came up with for kids. Once again, I looked through a catalog to get some ideas and then opened MMS to create my own version.  It's truly THAT easy:

I inserted an identical page and then changed the background paper each time. I have a few more sayings like, "U R a Rock Star" and such (although you don't see them all here). Just create some of those funny little Valentiney sayings and you're good to go. On the blue background, I thought it looked a little plain so I added a couple hearts I found in embellishments.  Grabbed one, mirrored it and placed it on the opposite side.

I now have 5 sheets of 3 Valentines each that my daughter feels are acceptable to pass out to girls and boys (nothing terribly "lovey-dovey" for my 10-year-old!). We can print them on cardstock and she can cut them out, address them to her classmates, sign her name and she's done (or get real Martha Stewarty and add headphones made out of yarn)!  I honestly think she'll prefer the owl Valentine because it's a candy holder, and that just has kid appeal and charm. It's really the candy appeal, but I get that.  I was a kid once and am still one at heart. Anyway, the purpose of these is to simply show you how easy it is by starting with a shape, add a few more shapes, add a text box and a few shadows (because, you know, I like shadows!), choose your paper for backgrounds and it's all done. I didn't line everything up perfectly like I usually obsess about just because I know my daughter won't use these, but be sure to throw on your guides, rulers, grid and you can use the tools in MMS to align vertically and horizontally. It's a lovely feature.

If you haven't seen the owl Valentine, check it out here.  In the meantime, get inspired and then get creative!  You can do it and it's easy in MMS to do both (be inspired and creative).  Have fun!

Kid's Owl Valentines

Last year around this time I created an easy Valentine (you can see it here) in MMS for my daughter to hand out at school. They totally rocked! This year? I knew if I just found a little inspiration I could easily re-create a Valentine card. And that's exactly what I did. I grabbed a catalog from a company that sells cards and took a looksy. And then came up with my own version.

How long did it take? Ah, that would have been smart of me to clock it, but being a mom, I just didn't make a Valentine card in one sitting. I baked a turkey, worked a little on the card, fed the dog, medicated the dog, worked a little on the card, did a load of dishes, took the dog out to do her thing, etc. Need I say more? An estimate would be about 30-45 minutes. But it was fun, fun, fun!

Anyway, I saw a cute little owl and thought to myself, "I can make this!" I quickly looked through embellishments and didn't find an owl that I thought would work, so I went with Plan B. Make it from scratch in My Memories Suite V4:

1. I went to the Shapes menu and added a circle, square and triangle. Created the sizes I wanted, duplicated the triangle and used them for the ears rotating them slightly to look like real owl ears, the square for the head and the circle for the bottom of the owl body.
2. In the Shapes menu, I selected the "Paper" option and selected different colors of paper to place in the shapes as the background color. I think I chose nice Valentiney colors! Noticed the ears looked plain so I added two more little white triangles and placed them inside the ears rotating as needed.
3. Went back into Shapes, added 2 circles leaving one larger and white while making the other a little smaller. I chose to fill the smaller circle with a different paper and added a thin matte around this iris. Then I grouped it, copied and pasted for the other eye so I only had to make it once. Then moved them over using the grids to make sure they were in the same line.
4. Used the new Paint function by adding a black circle in the middle of the iris for a pupil. Did that on each eye. Paint option in MMS V4  is FUN. Be sure to play around with that when you have a chance!
5. Needed a nose.  Triangle!  Shapes menu again, added, re-sized, rotated, colored it orange and put by the eyes.
6. I needed to add wings, but believe me, there are no "owl wings" in embellishments! (I really didn't look...that's just something you have to assume.  =) I went into the Shapes menu again and found an acorn which looked like it would work.  Re-shaped, colored orange, doubled, mirror-flipped it and placed them for wings. It looked plain, so I went back into embellishments and found a little scroll. Added one, copied, mirror-flipped and placed it on the other wing.
7. Added a text box and added a cute little "owl" saying.
8. Went back and added shadows under the eyes, nose, ear triangles, wings and text. I like shadows.  =)
9. Grouped, copied and placed one on the right. Re-grouped the two, copied and placed them on the bottom part of the page so I had 4 on one page, lining them up using the grids. Chose different colors from my papers, added a different saying for each owl and inserted a duplicate page. IF I was smart (that's a hugeIF), I would have duplicated the outline first before adding the eyes, wings, and such, but that's hind-sight. All I had to do was take a little time to delete everything off the body of the owl and added a text box with a To: and From: and it was complete!

Now all I have to do is print on card stock (front page of the face, back page with the To/From) and have my daughter cut out! Once she cuts them out, we'll make two small vertical slits at the bottom and slide a Pixie Stix in (or a pencil if you're worried about tooth decay). Not only did we make a Valentine but it's a treat/gift holder, too!

Want to see?

Notice I have the colors on page 2 in different spots? Yeah, that was on purpose. When I print them, it'll match up color for color.

It was easy, fun and quite enjoyable! Who can't have fun playing in MMS V4? I also made an Iphone Valentine, but I'll share that NEXT My Memories Monday. Until then, have fun making your own Valentines! 

Photo Project Ideas for 2013

If you haven't checked out Photojojo yet, you really don't know what you're missing! I absolutely LOVE this company. It's fresh and fun and they offer some of the best photo products! And one of the best parts? I signed up for their emails and I'm lovin' it! They give great advice about photography tips and tricks that you'll want to bank...forever!

Even though it's past January 1st, you can still do a quick makeup and get some photo projects going for 2013. You don't have to have a project a day or anything like that if you don't want to, so don't give up already! I promise - there's still time to get a project going. Need some ideas? Photojojo has some great ideas you can check out here. They say there's seven, but they have so many links to other areas there are many more than just seven.  Enjoy!

Digital Scrapbooking

Meaningful Photo Projects

While you're thinking about your new year's resolutions, have you given thought to your photo projects for 2013? I'm sure you've heard of Project 365 where you take a picture every day. I have to be honest - I found that too hard to complete and rather than taking pictures that were important and relevant, I was LOOKING, sometimes frantically, for something to take a picture of. Seriously, did I really think a picture of a door knob would be something that would knock my socks off? I'd look at it and say, "Oh yeah, 2012 was an awesome year! Just look at my door knob!" Or my cup of coffee? Ah, the memories. You get my point.

So I offer you a challenge: instead of taking 365 new pictures, why not use the pictures you already have? You know the ones I'm talking about. Those that are either sitting in boxes in your basement or the digital images still stuck on that memory card in your camera. DO SOMETHING WITH THEM. Get them in albums or scan them and create a digital album to share with family and friends. Whatever it takes, just do it! You can grab a picture a day and get caught up on that back log. (If you need help getting a handle on it, give us a call!)

Now don't get me wrong - I'm not saying don't take pictures in 2013. I'd probably go into cardiac arrest if you told me I couldn't take pictures! I'm suggesting using what you already have as inspiration. Don't just point and shoot (promise me there will be no door knob pics!). Challenge yourself to get a little creative and make your pictures for 2013 meaningful, like recreating a picture that was taken years ago. My husband's cousin and wife, who were high school sweethearts, recently did just that and told me I could share it here:

What a beautiful couple! Their daughter posted this picture on Facebook and typed, "You kind of have to believe in soul mates when this picture exists." Exactly. And now their children have a wonderful keepsake of their parents. I can see this picture taken again in 20 years and again 20 years after that! See the meaning? Of course you do!

We'll be posting more suggestions and ideas for photo projects in 2013 in the next week so be sure to stop back for more ideas!