"not even the rain has such small hands"

Time gives such perspective. I was just going through my phone, looking for photos to include on a scrapbook spread as an anniversary gift for Bob. I kept seeing a few different themes – travel, family, outdoor activities, our dogs, the ocean, great food…

And roses.

I see how many times roses were part of our journey.

1990 in the Bay Area -I should have known Bob was the one when he picked me up for our first date and presented me with a single rose…. from his garden! I don’t have a photo of that first date but I was so young. I remember the feeling. I felt safe and respected and natural, and at first I just felt like I was connecting with an incredible friend. I still have those same feelings today, and of course more.

I eventually got to move into that home with him and have roses bushes of my very own. He gave me a Princess Diana Peace rose bush, and I think that is still my favorite rose.

Bob was into air brushing for a while, and he painted a rose on my dresser. Our furniture tastes have changed, but I loved that early dresser that we stained and put together.

2002 – We got married at a waterfall in Hawaii. And of course I had roses on my dress.

2003 – We moved to the Roseville/Rocklin area when things changed economically at Hewlett-Packard. We lived apart for a while – he rented a room in Folsom and I stayed in Campbell to finish out my volunteer commitment and until we sold the house. We then got an apartment together, and eventually got our first home up here.

Moving was hard. I remember whining one day that “We moved to Roseville and there are no roses here!” His calm reply – “Lela, it’s December. Roses aren’t blooming right now.”

And in the spring, he planted me this rose bush. (This is our first dog Beau, the gentle giant.)

2007 – And here was that same rose bush four years later.

I’m actually not one to stay in a “whiny” mood for long. I ended up making a scrapbook at the time that showcased all the pink and orange things in Roseville that I was grateful for. Of course roses ended up being a dominant part of that gratitude book! A month after I finished that scrapbook, I joined Stampin’ Up!

Here is our Peace rose, and peaches from the Farmer’s Market. I have photos of the glorious sunsets, my affordable (compared to the Bay Area) pink pedicures, our favorite park-bench where we have made major decisions, and more.

2013 – We moved to a single-story home in a quieter neighborhood. We have rose bushes here too. I have to say that I am really quite smitten with our lantana too – it is so bright and colorful!

2024 – The past ten years have been a little bumpy. I “retired” from HP before I had planned to, and tried out a few different entrepreneurial paths. I’ve found my voice and my groove though, and have been slowly and intentionally building my handmade cards (and scrapbooks) business. Covid Quarantine really did a number on our relationship. We are actually doing some deep work right now to improve our communication.

One great joy is that we now have our labradoodle Wrigely. (Funny side story – I had mentioned to Bob that we needed to go to counseling. The next thing I knew – the mad search was on to get a puppy!!!) Turns out we both knew what we needed, and we both willingly lean in.

Wrigely is such fun! He is like a little person sometimes.

Like his mom, Bob has taken up quilting. He is making so many great quilts for family members. He made this wall hanging for me. His love language is acts of service, and what a mighty servant he is. .

For our anniversary this year, I wanted to reciprocate and make something to show him my love. Here is a scrapbook spread – and now you know a few of the stories behind it.

A few other random notes – the poem by e.e. cummings is one I shared with him early on, and when we are in our gentlest times that poem really does describe how our relationship feels. The photo of us on the left layout is at a restaurant we used to love to go to on the coast. I tried to pick pictures where I love the emotions depicted. The photo of us on the right layout was when I took him in 2006 as a surprise for his birthday to The Kitchen – a Michelin rated restaurant in Sacramento.

I LOVE scrapbooking as an addition (back) into my life now. Not to be cliche, but life is really, really short. I’m grateful to get to take time now to look back on some amazing times and capture them little by little each month. I am also planning ahead – for events I want to experience AND also scrapbook. We have so many moments we can choose to focus on – I am choosing to focus on the amazing ones.

I’m a lucky gal. #Grateful

We paper-crafters made this right-side spread together tonight as part of my free class offerings. Hope you can join me the first Wednesday of every month at 3pm Pacific in my zoom classroom for free classes and scrapping time!

Here are the dimensions and products used for the left layout. The right side is a mirror image with mostly the same sizes.

I especially wanted to emphasize the value of the Month by Month Scrapbook Retreat kit by Stampin’ Up! I haven’t even done their workshop yet – and yet I am already benefiting from the investment by leveraging one of the layouts. I know that I will get miles and miles of value from that kit.

Left Layout:

Column one Designer Series Paper (DSP) sizes:

3″ x 3″
3″ x 4 1/2″
3″ x 1 3/4″

Column two Designer Series Paper (DSP) sizes:

3″ x 4 1/4″
23″ x 4 1/4″

Column three Designer Series Paper (DSP) sizes:

3″ x 3″
3″ x 4 1/4″

Column four Designer Series Paper (DSP) sizes:

2 1/2″ x 3″
2 1/2″ x 3″
2 1/2″ x 3″

Header Frame Size

8″ x 2″

Photo Frame Sizes:

4 1/4″ x 3 1/4″
4 1/4″ x 2 1/2″
4 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ square

I embossed the rose ephemera with some new products too. You can learn more about how I made those pieces on my free Zoom call on the third Wednesday this month. I will also be featuring this technique at my upcoming retreat in the Saturday afternoon class. I will be making a video too, and I will come back and update this post. (Or you can like and follow my YouTube channel.)

Product List