I'll be home for Christmas....

if only in my dreams... An old favorite Christmas song. Growing up I heard it every year and never thought too much about it. But now it means more. I love Christmas. It's my favorite holiday. Just really, really wish I could spend it with my family in Colorado. It's also the hardest time of the year to be so far away from "home."

The last time I was home for the holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas) was the year Reo was born. Since he was born in July we couldn't make our annual summer trip home, so we went for winter break instead.

Every year since then I've wished we could do it again. Maybe some year we will be able to. In the meantime, I guess I'll just listen to old Christmas carols and try to bring the holiday to life here in Japan for my own children. But my heart will be in Colorado.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.


クリスマス季節に実家に帰るのが久しぶりです。昔のクリスマス歌を聞くとちょっと寂しくなる。やはりこの時にアメリカの家族と一緒に過ごしたいです。

7年前に帰ってた。感謝祭とクリスマス。毎年それを思い出すとまた帰りたいな～と思います。またいつか出来るといいですね。

とりあえず、日本でクリスマスを自分の子供達に与えたいと思います。ただ心がコロラド州へ。

皆さん、メリークリスマス。

What I've been up to...

Three weeks, three mini albums. That's got to be a new record for me. Albeit two of them were hybrid albums, they still took quite a lot of time to design, print and assemble. The other one is completely hand made and took hours and hours. A picture is worth a thousand words, so here are some pictures. I sure hope my family will like them!


三週間でミニーアルバム三個。私にとっては大した事です。二個はハイブリッド何ですが、ハイブリッドでも時間かかりますよね。手作りの方はやっぱり数えないほどう時間かかりました。言葉よりも写真を見るほうが分かるからどうぞ見てください。家族の気に入るといいでね。

January Crop Schedule

January 13, Tuesday: Open Scrap (any page theme is ok, no lesson or challenge)

January 19th, Monday: Introduction to Scrapbooking (Focus will be on first-time participants. Class will be limited to 6 first-time participants. Depending on the number of people who want to join, I may also allow other beginner scrappers to join.)

January 20th, Tuesday: Open Scrap (any page theme is ok, no lesson or challenge)

January 27th, Tuesday: Advanced Scrappers (Theme or challenge will be decided at a later date.)

Memo:

"Open class" means anyone who has scrapped before, any level, is welcome to come.

"Beginner scrappers" are generally those who have been scrapping for a year or less. First-time scrappers are also welcome.

"Advanced scrappers" are those who have been scrapping for more than one year.

Limit: 8 people


1月のスクラップブッキング

1月13日（火）:　オープンスクラップ (テーマは何でも大丈夫です。レッスン・チャレンジはありません。)

1月19日（月）:　初心者　(人数が多い場合には初めての方のみになる可能性があります。初めての方の定員は6人にします。空きがあれば、2回目のかたもご参加が出来ます。

1月20日（火）:　オープンスクラップ (テーマは何でも大丈夫です。レッスン・チャレンジはありません。)

1月27日（火）：上級者 （チャレンジ・テーマは後日に決めます。）


メモ：

オープンクラス：　経験者のみになります。レベルに関係なくて参加出来ます。

初心者：　一年以下経験の方になります。初めての方でも可能です。

上級者：　一年以上経験の方になります。

定員は8人にします。

Been busy with Christmas

Oh my goodness, where have I been? I've been busy and I'm happy to be making progress.

After the bazaar finished I realized that I have only three weeks in which to make three mini albums for my USA family's Christmas presents. My sister and niece will each get a hybrid album. The kit is called "What Dreams May Come" by Flergs at Scrapbook Graphics. Some of the pages are quick pages and some are my own "creations." But the album for my parents had to be handmade this year. I wanted to put a lot of heart into theirs. It's been a long time since I made an entire project "by hand." Used Basic Grey's Blush set again. Same as last year's present to them, but I think they'll like it anyway.

Still have LOTS of work to do before they are done, but here are just a few of the pages. Will show you the completed projects after they are done.

Thanks for looking!

Will let you know the class schedule for January in the next few days. I promise!

お久しぶりです。ちょっと忙しくてなかなかブロッグを出来なかった。

バザーが終わってから気が付いて事で、あ～！後3週間アメリカの家族にクリスマスプレゼントを送らないと間に合わない! その時からず～と頑張ってます。普段にはミニーアルバムが3ヶ月ぐらいでゆっくり作りたいけど、今は３つミニーアルバムを3週間以内を目指している。2つはハイブリッド（ベースはデジタルで、印刷してからちょとの飾りを付ける）それらを姉とめいこに。母と父のアルバムは一年ぶりペパースクラップをしています。やっぱり毎年今頃はプレゼントアルバムを焦ってます。でも親だから心を込めて手作りで頑張りたいと思います。

まだまだ完成してないけど、少しの出来てるページがあります。完成したまた見せます。

毎度見てくれてありがとう！また自分の作品も見せて下さい。

1月のクラス予定も明日、明後日ごろ連絡します。

それでは。。。