Love Is In The Air

Well, this one is a little late but….

Sam always complains about the winters here in Idaho. I, however, relish them. I get 7 months a year to be outdoors enjoying the warm weather, and I get five months a year to stay in and work on the crafts I enjoy. Winter is the time for scrapbooking, crocheting, sewing, baking, and whatever else I fancy. I like having a break from yardwork, farmer’s markets, and entertaining so I can spend time doing the other things I love.

It’s not Winter, it’s Craft Season.

Back in February, when it was miserable cold I got a great idea for a Valentine gift for Sam. I planned to make him a mini album of just us. Since our lives are filled with children now, I thought an album of the two of us would be fun and memorable for the Holiday of Love.

aaaaww, young and in love (and skinny too!!).

I went poking around the internet for inspiration. I found a great channel on youtube with this lady who makes fabulous mini albums. Her name is Robyn and she lives across the pond and she gets really excited about her finds. She gives tutorials on techniques and showcases her albums and they are just beautiful. I think this is my favorite one. I just love birds and this one is right up my alley.

If you want to see more (and I highly recommend the slider card tutorial, these made really cool Valentines for the grandmas) she has a website with all of her tutorials. You can find Robyn at www.injoystampin.com.

So I got crackin’ on my own mini album. I’m sure you’ve seen these, they are simple and fun to make using lunch bags and paper. I was really into it too, I finished the album in a couple of nights and all I had left to do was add the pictures.

Well, the album was the easy part. It took me forever to find pictures I could crop and print and put in the album. Just when I thought I had a few, I started to remember all of the pictures that are floating around on my in-law’s computer. When you are always the girl behind the camera, it’s really tough to find pictures that you are actually in. So by the time Valentine’s Day rolled around, I still didn’t have it completed.

No sweat I thought, because fortunately for me, Sam’s birthday was the following week!

yeeeaaaahhh.

Didn’t quite get it finished by then either. I did produce a partially filled album and it pretty much got the response I figured. A half interested “Thanks” before moving on to the next article he was reading on espn.com.

Were my feelings hurt? Nah. I know before I give my husband a “craft item” he can only be about as excited as any other dude. Sure he appreciates the gesture, but I have learned that any expectation of seeing him sit down to pour over each page and notice the carefully selected patterned paper, read every quote and caption, pet the different trims and fibers I chose, comment on the hours of work I must have put into it, and cry over each picture of us isn’t happening.

And really, I must give God a big THANK YOU for that one. I think I would be laying in bed at night wondering what had happened if I was a witness to such a sight.

No pressure. No timeline. I finished it when I finished it and put it out on the table and said nothing. I’m guessing that was around the beginning of March.

A few days later he came home from work talking about how he was bragging to his coworkers about how cool I was for making him an entire book. Now if that doesn’t make a girl feel special, what does? Knowing that he takes a minute from his March Madness bracket talk to interject a compliment on my scrapbooking skills (to other dudes, nonetheless) makes me want to gush all over him. I love that man.

Even when I think he’s not looking, he has already been there and done that.