Dateless, Mateless, But Certainly Not Weightless!!!: Those Who Can't

Those who know me know that I'm not one to beat my own drum.

They also know that I'm not very crafty. In fact, I went to a scrapbooking conference a few years ago, sitting at a table doing a page. The teacher walked by and said "Are you happy with that?" Well, I was until she said that.

Okay, to set up the story: My oldest niece turned 12 recently and I wanted to do something special for her to celebrate this transition. For a long time I have searched for a Project Life scrapbook focused on LDS Young Women with no luck. For those of you that are not familiar with the LDS church programs, the Young Women's Program is a program for teens/tweens from 12 to 18 years old. The program uses Sunday lessons, weekly activities, and a goal-setting program to help them develop into polished, accomplished, well-rounded, spiritually minded women. They focus on values such as faith, knowledge, good works, and virtue.

One day, I had an epiphany. I realized that with a bit of work I could use what was I could find out there to meet my own needs. Despite what I can't do, I have learned that I can steal from the best - to find the good work of others and modify them for my own needs.

I found a site that gave free quote cards that accomplished each of the values done by an amazing designer, Colette Bomsta from My Computer Is My Canvas. The cards were 4 x 6, designed for an inexpensive photo album. I thought with my very limited Photoshop skills that I could modify the cards to create a "title" card then use the quote cards for the 3 x 4 slots. I even got creative enough to "erase" the middle and create blank cards to use to write information.

This set had a title page for the theme. But I wanted to add a picture of the medallion (that she can receive if she finishes the goal setting program) and a picture of the logo. I used a second set from the same designer to pull out frames that I could use.

Finally, I wanted to create a section where I could have her take pictures of her classes each year (girls spend two years in each class). I was able to pull from one of my FAVORITE sites - sugardoodle.net and again use my limited Photoshop skills to crop and paste a title card for each of the classes. I then used another site - The Idea Door - to pull the background for the mission statements.

While I can certainly see the flaws in what I have done, I have to admit that I'm pretty happy with the results. It's a labor of love and something that I hope she uses. Even if she doesn't, this project was a testimony to me of a talent that I have been given from a loving Heavenly Father that I can use to bless the lives of others. I wish I could create fabulous scrapbook pages or know how to put two different patterns together to make a beautiful design. I am grateful to those that can. But I can find a way to take your talents, modify them, and make them my own.

Project Life Album
http://www.amazon.com/Project-Life-Mini-Album-Ivory/dp/B00CICSS2U/ref=sr_1_11?s=arts-crafts&ie=UTF8&qid=1385350447&sr=1-11&keywords=mini+album+becky+higgins

Medallion
http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/58379/Fostering-spiritual-growth-among-Latter-day-Saint-young-women.html

Young Women Torch
http://vector-magz.com/clip-art-2/young-women-clipart-item-1/

Medallion and Young Women Torch Background
http://mycomputerismycanvas.blogspot.com/2011/09/freebie-lds-yw-value-centerpieces.html