The Last Week of 2010

I can't believe how fast this year has gone! I am not exaggerating when I say this year just flew by for us.

With that said, in the past week, I have gotten new hair :0)
New color and just a bit shorter. My natural hair is much lighter than this and doesn't have the red highlights.

We baked cookies despite not really feeling like it this year. But I pushed through on Christmas eve and got a batch done. Here is just a few we frosted. I love Evan's little gingerbread man. He really put a lot of effort into it!

Christmas Day was nice and quiet. I was not feeling well at all, so we didn't go anywhere!

We just opened presents and hung out at home. But it was ok despite feeling so crummy. I still enjoyed being with my family. And we just took it easy.

Plus it was a white Christmas, which the kids loved :0)









But like true traditional St. Louis weather, the snow is all gone already.
And we are having thunderstorms, tornado warnings and abnormally warm weather on New Year's Eve.

Anyway, I have been seeing a lot of blog posts with Ten in 2010 scrapbook layouts. I did something similar here
in 2009. A nine in '09 post. But I didn't really take a lot of photos of layouts in 2010. And the ones I did take photos of are mostly on the blog already. But I have a feeling that will change in 2011 with being on Scrapgal's design team :0)

I do want to do a Ten in 2010 favorite photos post though soon. I've been finding a lot of photos I love again lately as I go through my files and re-save them to month files since losing my huge folder with all those edited photos. So that will be coming soon!

I just want to wish everyone a Happy New Year! Looking forward to a peaceful, healthy, happy 2011!

On My Way!

Taking a class at Big Picture Scrapbooking called Wellness Journey. The link takes you to the description.
I am really looking forward to it, because I need something to jumpstart me in 2011.
I need to take better care of myself.
I've been trying.
Sometimes succeeding and sometimes not.
I think it's hard sometimes to put yourself first when you have others to take care of.
And I don't mean for selfish reasons.
But sometimes I just need to make sure that I am doing what I need to do to keep myself healthy and well for my family.
Because when I'm tired, don't feel good or am feeling down, I'm a grump.
And I don't like being a grump!
So I hopefully I can keep up with this journey and make some much needed, positive changes towards my health!
Wish me luck!

Merry Christmas!

And a Happy New Year!

Scrap Friends Make a Calendar For Charity

My friend  Marie organized a calendar project among some of us scrapbookers to raise money for charity. At this time, we are considering a food bank because the theme of the calendar is recipes.

At this time you can find it here at CafePress.com for sale. If you need a 2011 wall calendar and some new recipes this may be the calendar for you.

I created a layout and chose a recipe for the month of March. You can check out the calendar and what each month looks like and it's recipes at the link above :0)

Christmas Concert

Well, Evan had his annual school Christmas concert last Thursday. And I have to say the pictures really didn't turn out like we had hoped. A combination of no flash photography allowed with being to far away even with the super zoom lens = blurry shots. But that's ok. I'm keeping a few of the best ones :)
It was a really cute show called Star of Wonder. And Evan sang his heart out!
So proud of him :0)

This is an ornament I made a few years ago when U2 was on their Vertigo tour. I really wanted a U2 ornament for our tree since we are such big fans. So I used a clear glass ornament and filled it with rolls of strips of black patterned paper. Then decorated the outside with red and white poster paint pens to represent graphics from the album design. It says Vertigo there on the left. I did the bullseye design on the bottom and on the back is another graphic from my concert t-shirt.
I am making ornaments like this again this year for neighbors and my nieces and nephews. Obviously not U2 ones, but Christmas and snow themed ones. And camouflage, hunting theme ones for my nephews who like to hunt. : )
So that is what I am working on in the scrap department right now!

So Happy!

I got some big news on Wednesday!
I am officially on the design team at Scrapgal.com
Can't wait to start!!

Visiting with Santa

Evan was actually off school last Wednesday, so we decided to make a trip over to the mall to see Santa. I figured the crowds would be next to nothing and I was right. We just walked right up to him :)
I couldn't get in to close, but we did end up getting the "professional" package. It was worth it though because a CD of our photo and a $25 gift card to shutterfly where I usually get our Christmas photo cards from were included with it.
So photo cards made easy this year! Just need to order them :-O

And then here they were telling Santa what they wanted for Christmas. Evan had a lot to say :0) And yes, Evan still believes. At least he says he does. And who are we to take that away from him. I'm happy we have another year! I have a feeling we won't be so lucky next year though because he's asking a lot of questions. And has already told me he thinks Rudolph isn't real. 

To make this day even better, it was Mike's birthday. He was able to actually meet us at the mall on his lunch hour, see the kids with Santa, and have lunch with us! Always a treat :0)

Later that evening, we had cake, a special dinner and presents for him. 

So it was a good day!

Page of the Month Contest

This is the scrapbook layout I made for the Page of the Month Contest over at Scrapgal
It's based on a sketch they provide. I am making an 8 1/2 album for me with my thoughts and feelings on that amazing trip to Ireland Mike and I took summer of 2009. Yes, I cannot believe it has been that long already!
But there are so many things I remember from that trip so vividly still. And other things I am forgetting, but am so grateful I kept a daily journal on it. And then blogged about it here  and  here  and here  and here  and  here  and finally here

I had a lot of blog posts about Ireland. But I pretty much took my daily journal and just added the photos. A fun combination! Plus I added a few bits and thoughts of how I felt after coming back. This trip really was something I am proud of. Flying over the ocean (yikes!). Having to leave my children behind in another country let alone continent! Seeing U2 live. Meeting people I will probably never be able to see again, but who made a difference to me in that short time I was there. Spending that time with Mike just relaxing and exploring a whole new world to us.

I hope to go back some day. I really do :0)

For All My Scrapbook Friends :0)

If you are looking for a scrapbook site to hang out at, I found one recently. Since Cropper's Cottage and Scrap Diner closed, I've been wanting to find a site again that has fun boards to chat on and where I can post and share layouts and scrappy stuff. I do hang at Studio Calico kit club a little bit, but since I'm not getting the kits anymore...for now :0), I'm not participating as much. And a lot of it is kit chat anyway.

But ScrapGal is fitting the bill for me :0) And you can find it here
I've been a member for a long time, but mostly just shopped there. Never quite made it to the boards.
I'm so glad I did!
So for those of you who are still looking come by and say "hi"!
The women there have all been very nice :0)

Christmas Reading

Erin and I picked up a huge pile of books at the library yesterday. I already have quite a collection of Christmas books for children from my teaching days. And even more since the kids were born. But there is nothing better than new books! Especially from the library :0) Tonight Erin and I read two of them for bed time and they were both winners in my opinion. And I think her's, too. Especially since she is sleeping with one of them right now :0)

This was one of the sweetest little books ever! A little boy makes gingerbread pirate cookies with his mom for Santa, but the captain is his favorite and he wants to keep it. When Santa comes his cookies are gone so he goes looking for them. The pirate captain tells Santa "you can't eat my crew." And then Santa gives the captain a pirate ship and turns them all into pirate toys for the ship so the little boy can keep them and play with them. And they won't get eaten :0) It was really cute!

The next was Dragon's Merry Christmas. But I could only find a photo of the pack. I liked the Christmas story so much though that the others are definitely going in my request list from the library. It sounds like Erin's teacher read this book to them at school, too. So that's why she picked this one out and is currently sleeping with it. This is a new thing she has started. Instead of sleeping with a stuffed animal or "bed friend" as we call them, she is sleeping with favorite books. A child after my own heart ;0)

And lastly, this is neither a Christmas book or a childrens book. But it comes highly recommended by me. I loved this book. It's a great story about a women who comes from Japan after world war II to be a bride to an american. The story also talks about her relationship with her daughter and other family members back in Japan. I really enjoyed it and loved the main characters!
Plus I was excited to find a link to the author's blog margaret dilloway
when I was looking for a photo of the book on-line at Amazon.com
I added her blog to my roll of fun and inspirational blogs below on the right. I always love fun finds like that!
Can't wait to read some more of our library finds this time around. For her and me.
As for Evan, he is reading Star wars chapter books right now with Mike. And he finds his at the school library or at the book store, which is why he didn't get any with us at the library. So glad our children love to read!

A Gift for Madi

It started out as this layout about my niece and god daughter Madi.

And I framed it and turned it into this for her birthday. I just wanted to give her something special from me so she would no how much I love her :0) And she really, really loved it! Along with the gift card for shoes we gave her. (She loves shoes and clothes)
By the way, I did the hand stitching on that tag I used for journaling. Lots of fun to sew on layouts! Even when it's something simple as that tag. And it already had pre-punched holes :0)

I do have one more layout to share, but Erin decided to run my tape runner over it. She was just trying to "scrapbook like mommy". But I managed to peel each little piece off. I just need to get a photo now!

Great Post over at Write, Click, Scrapbook Today!

WCS

Lots of great printables for the holidays!
Like this one...

and these...


I need to print some out!

Kid Storage Idea

 

I wish I could remember where I saw this photo. It was on-line and there is a watermark on it but I still can't remember. All that I know is that when I saw it, I thought "perfect!" 

We are in the process of remodeling our basement. A long process. It's going to take a while.

But I am already in the process of storing inspiration photos in a file on my computer.

This one is for the kid's art area. Mike is designing a space for all their stuff!

And a giant desk top with two chairs for them to share.

I can't wait!

So not Scrap Related, but...

my favorite thing to munch on right now is this hummus...

and these chips! Soooooo good. I am completely addicted :0)

Looking forward to lunch with some good friends today to celebrate a birthday before I have to pick Erin up from preschool.

Another layout!

This layout was created using a sketch from Kelly Purkey's Sketchbook 2 class. I was actually inspired by Stephanie Wheeler's take on the sketch. It seemed to go perfectly with this photo of Evan - my little artist :0)
If you click on the photo you should be able to read the story.

Watch Out!

Time for a new post, don't you think? :0)
I am just not the best blogger right now,
but I think that will be changing soon.

One of my most recent and favorite layouts. It's an 8 1/2x 11 with a story that just needed to be told! I'm hoping if you click on the photo it will get big enough to read what I typed there.
Anyway, the gist of the story is how Erin was sneaking up on Evan to knock over his Lego rockets with her car. And she didn't get away with it either! She can be such a little stinker sometimes :0)

Layouts and Cards

So I actually have been making scrapbook layouts here and there. The following layouts were made in September using the first sketch from an on-line class I took by Kelly Purkey. I love her sketches and the class was three weeks long with 12 sketches total. A handout to be downloaded was sent by email on monday, wednesday and friday of each week. Included in each handout was the original sketch and three takes on it by Kelly and two other scrapbookers from Studio Calico kit club.
I really like on-line classes because you can usually move at your own pace and Kelly's are always great!

My first layout, Fly Girl, was inspired by the original sketch but I kind of made it my own. It tells the story of how I originally at one point wanted to be an astronaut but became a teacher instead. I think it will be fun for my kids to read some day. And I have a feeling Mike doesn't know that story either. I really don't talk about it that much. :0) This layout will go in an 8 1/2 x 11 album I started that has stories about me I want to share with the kids.

This layout is a scraplift on Stephanie Howell's take of the same sketch. I think it's interesting how the same sketch was used but in my opinion both layouts look completely different.




Layout number three started out to be a scraplift of Stephanie Wheeler's version of the sketch, but then I kind of changed it up quite a bit because my photos were so much bigger. So it's more my design then hers :0) But again a completely different look all from one sketch! It was pretty cool to get three layouts done so quickly, well if you can call a week quickly. But for me that's quick these days! I feel like I accomplished a lot with three completely different topics, too! But all photos from the month of June.

And lastly, I've been working on cards. Lots of cards. Like the one you see above. I actually went ahead and opened a small Etsy shop you can see here
Nothing earth shattering. Just some simple cards that I like to make. But I can tell it's going to take a little time and promotion. I hate taking photos of projects. Which is why I haven't been putting many if any pictures of layouts in the scrapbook galleries lately. Just here. But if I don't take photos of the cards and post them, they won't sell. Which is what I need to go do since I've only posted five so far :0) We'll see.
Anyway, that is all that has been going on with scrapping these days.
But I hope to post some more layouts soon as I get ready to work on another layout from the sketch class and take a little break from cards!

My Scrap Room

So my scrap office (cause it's not really big enough to be a whole room!) used to be a run-down sun porch off our upstairs bed room that my husband remodeled for me. He started in October of 2007 and finished in November of 2008!

He literally gutted it, tore down all the walls and started with the bare bones.


Crazy, huh? But it really needed to be done because it was a falling down wreck.


To get to this point, he reframed it, put up drywall, installed new energy efficient window, wired the whole thing with lots of outlets, primed it and installed a new cork floor.


My friends call it my scrap tree house because it literally looks like I am up in tree there :0)


Once the new cabinets and counter were installed, I moved in!


I love my drawers because they have "secret storage" underneath. This is my stamp and ink drawer.



Underneath.

I saw this idea to use a pull out pots and pans shelf for paper storage in BHG etc...in an example of Poly Maly's scrap room. It works perfectly.


My American Crafts Thickers drawer!


And the right corner of my room. The counter wraps all the way around the other side. It's a small space but perfect for me! And it only took my husband an entire year, but I am so grateful!!!

Emily Falconbridge Camera Strap Giveaway!

You can find details
here
The straps she makes are so pretty!
I have my eye on one in here shop
if I don't actually win :0)

If You Like Sketches...

this was the Sunday Sketch at Studio Calico a few weeks ago. I definitely plan on using this one soon :0)

The View Outside My Scrap Room Window Tonight :0)

So grateful to my son who was working on my computer facing that window for pointing it out to me. As I had my back to the window at the other side of the room working on a layout. Pictures cannot do it justice!

A Layout

I used some old, old photos for this one. Ok, they are only from 2003, but as far as scrapping goes they are older :0)
That's my little Evan who was only about 10 months old at the time and who is now about to turn 8 YEARS old! I came across these photos recently and the memory was so strong that I just had to scrap them. And super proud that I used almost all stash on this one!
Since taking the photo of the layout though, I've moved the title a little. It's all just a little bit more centered and closer together. I just didn't feel like taking another photo of it :0)

The journaling: Evan - One morning I came in to find you studying your construction truck wall paper border. It was like your were really seeing it for the first time. And then you turned around and gave me the sweetest, happiest smile.

I have to say that as far as a scrapping style for me goes, I'm realizing that I am a very simple scrapper. I like lines and organization. I don't like to have to much on my pages, but still love the look of the more detail oriented pages. I just don't feel like "me" when I try to pull those off though. So as long as I add a few little details to pages I am happy :0)

Scrapping on Mother's Day!

I got some much needed scrap time on Mother's Day :0) It's been so long since I really scrapped. At least a month!
Evan took this photo of me working as he played Lego Club on the computer.


First I worked on the layout I began in the "I Dare You" class I took at the Creating Keepsakes Convention here back in April. Finally finished it!

And then I completed this layout of Erin. The title is lyrics from a song by Vampire Weekend. I've had those lyrics playing in my head a lot lately and really wanted to use them with a photo of Erin. As usual it didn't quite turn out how I pictured it in my mind, but I am ok with the results. Took a photo and put it in her album. Done!
Now to get back into a scrapping groove. I have lots of photos to choose from. Just need to find the time!