Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Circles of Women



I spent the day yesterday in Newton speaking to the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group. I brought tons of photos and pages and shared photography tips for capturing the "decisive moments" with their kids. I always start my talks on photography/scrapbooking by sharing why it is that women need to create. We were made to create. We can't help it. It rejuvinates us in ways that are hard to describe. I had a conversation with a new friend who described it this way "When I stopped creating I started getting fearful. Fearful of all the bad things that might happen to my family. And, once I started creating again-the fear went away." Why as women do we feel the NEED to justify our creative time???



The amazing thing was that I spent the morning encouraging and inspiring the women at MOPS to celebrate where they are at right now in life and then I go shopping with 2 boys in tow and I am encouraged by a store owner who tells me she was the mother of 3 boys. So, as I'm carefully directing them through a "pretty shop" (they needed to use the bathroom in the back of the store), she is smiling and encouraging me. Telling me her boys are in college and graduating from high school now. These days are going fast she reminded me. Put me in the right frame of mind to see my youngest son coming out of the bathroom with an entire strip of toilet paper wrapped around his head (he was trying to stop a scab from bleeding on his forehead)! Circles of women-helping each other out during the time of life they are in-whether they are bring a new baby into the world, planning a wedding, sending their youngest to preschool or saying goodbye to a college freshman.



The tulips are up. Spring is here. Gotta get out the costumes. I'm put together these pages with my new Scrapbook with Passion paper and brought them to the scrapbook store in town to prepare for the masses of tourists that will be descending on our town in the next two weeks. I love Tulip Time!

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Life is FULL







My "to do" list is long, my studio table full of stuff to finish, I need to drive kids to ball, and school program...life is full, but oh so good. The sun was wonderful yesterday. After much begging, I took off with the little boys to a local park. They played in the water, found some sticks and just had "boy fun". Maybe I shouldn't let them take photos of me with my digital, but when they ask I couldn't refuse. Looks like I'm really "working hard"!!! If you would of seen their clothes and boots after this little adventure-you would KNOW just how much laundry gets done around here! Can't wait to scrapbook some of these photos!


Tulip- Melynda Van Zee Copyright 2006

I spent the morning sharing my newest artistic creations with a local gallery owner who is opening "The Gallerie" in my hometown in just a few weeks. I'm just estatic that she is willing to hang my newest tulip paintings in the gallery, so make your plans now to head to Pella for Tulip Time 2006 and when your here getting bakery yummies stop in at "Times Remembered" (the COOLest scrapbook store in town)to pick up some Scrapbook with Passion paper, and stop in the gallery to take home a "Melynda original" :)

Yes, I keep getting "Scrapbook with Passion" paper sightings :) So FUN! For those of you here in Iowa, I know for sure that the paper is now available here in Pella at "Times Remembered" and "Scrap This, Crop That" in Des Moines, IA. Let me know when you spot it in other stores so I can keep everyone updated. For those of you not in my local area, Sticker Planet (a mail order and internet scrapbook supply company) just released the Girl and Boy lines as part of their Summer Sneak Peek www.stickerplanet.com.

I found out this week that the offical release date of "Painted Scrapbook Pages" will be 11/28/06-just in time for Christmas. You can check out the front cover and read about my book here Painted Scrapbook Pages.

My thought for the day from my Luci Swindoll journal "Live fully every moment. If we don't live in the moment, we'll lose it and it'll never come again."