Scrapbook Treehouse

Art and What it Means to Me!

2012-02-10T01:30:00.000-08:00

(photo taken back in September 2011 by me)

We are so lucky to have this amazing art museum here. I have been going there since I was a little girl. My grandpa loved to paint and often did reproductions of famous paintings. Especially by Van Gogh. In fact, for the longest time, I thought my grandpa Pete was Van Gogh because we had so many copies of his paintings hanging in our house :)
When I was in high school, I once again started spending time at the museum. Especially with one of my best friends, Linda. It was such a peaceful place for me. Somewhere, I could go and just walk around in the quiet. I always had my few favorite pieces that I loved to visit while there. Number one on the list was this sculpture by Rodin...

(Photo definitely not taken by me - lol)

"Despair". For a teenage girl in high school going through all that teenage angst, it spoke volumes to me. Although I will never forget the first time I saw it. My friend Linda and I had stopped by and as we walked up to the sculpture she said "Awwwwww" and reached out to pat him, just being silly. The docent on duty exclaimed in a loud voice "Don't touch the sculpture". Well after that we never touched the sculptures or anything for that matter.

But this piece became one of my favorites. It really expressed something that I knew in all my trials and tribulations I had yet to truly experience. Thankfully.

And then one day it was gone.

I went looking for it and couldn't find it anywhere.

I just figured it was moved to another museum.

Until today!

Erin and I were driving through the park on our way home from lunch with Mike. She was recalling the flag display (shown in the first photo from the 9/11 tribute) that we had seen last September. At first I couldn't figure out what she was talking about and then it clicked. The Art Museum. She asked if we could go and I said why not. The flags are no longer there, but I was looking forward to walking around the museum with her. It is under construction right now so a lot of exhibits are closed or moved around.

But I still enjoy the quiet and peace. The chance to share one of my favorite places with Erin.

And then there it was. As we left the little cafe area, right in the next gallery. Despair.

Can you believe how happy it made me to see this sculpture that represents something quite the opposite of what I was feeling.

Apparently after fifteen long years, it is back.

I didn't have a camera with me today, but I plan on going back.

Because in addition to Despair, I want to get a photo of this painting

Loch Lomonde by Gustave Dore - love this painting! Always have.

And one of my favorite Van Gogh's

Stairway at Auvers. Yep, I had a copy of it hanging in my home by my grandpa. I think I will always have a special place in my heart for Van Gogh because of my grandpa. And standing there staring at the original painting in our Art Museum just fills me with awe. I feel a little bit the same way when I am at a U2 concert and Bono or the Edge or Adam are standing right there making their music (lol) It's amazing!

And I wonder sometimes if my love for art, and the fact that I have been taking my kids to the art museum since they were babies (especially Evan), plus the talents of my grandpa and mom have been a little bit of the force behind Evan's need to draw and create and want to be an artist or architect someday.
Can you imagine the world without art? I know I can't :)

Currently Listening To...

2012-02-08T00:00:00.000-08:00

Foster the People - love pretty much every song they have. Now if they would just come here or anywhere near hear for a concert, Mike and I would be happy.

Duran Duran - yes, I was a groupie back in the day. And their new album is pretty darn good. Really connected to all their old school fans with some trips down memory lane. Love "All You Need is Now." Makes me bust out my dance around the room moves just like when I was thirteen. While no one is looking except Erin of course :) And to think, my mom said they would never last. How many years later are we? lol

The Black Keys - Now these guys we *are* going to see live in a few months. Happy about that. Love their classic rock sound.

Foo Fighters - love them. That is all. And I am listening to Walk over and over. And love Dave in this...

in this video!
Other bands seeing soon in concert - Jane's Addiction and Radiohead.
And as always, listening to U2.
What music are you listening to right now?

Sigh...

2012-02-06T06:16:00.000-08:00

being a parent is not always easy. Especially when it comes under the category of "doing it for their own good"
After Evan left this morning, I came into the kitchen to find this

Yep, that is his lunch bag.
And why don't I just run it up to school for him you ask?
Because it is a goal that he is working on, and truthfully been doing a great job at it!
Part of his issues with ADHD have been executive functioning issues. Organization, remembering to turn in assignments, etc... He has come a long way because it has been the big goal for this school year.
But occasionally there is a forgotten item. Or something that needs organizing :)
He is given one chance for me to bring lunch up to him at school for the school year.
After that, it is a peanut butter sandwich from the cafeteria.
He has not had to do that all year. Until today.
I am so tempted to just run it up there! But I won't.
It would not be fair to either of us in the long run.
And I guarantee you tomorrow he will not forget his lunch.
It happens. I know. But these are the moments we learn from.
And as a parent, I have to know when I need to stick with the plan and when I can be flexible.
But knowing at some point he is going to go to grab his lunch and find it's not there, just makes me feel bummed. He is going to be disappointed. Especially since one of daddy's famous chocolate chip, peanut butter cookies is in there.
Ugh.

On another note, I thought Madonna did a great job with the half time show during the superbowl. It was the only thing I watched and the commercial for "The Voice". Which made no sense to me until I saw a little bit of The Voice last night :) But Madonna. Wow! Brought back some good memories of songs I loved when I was younger.

And finally, this is a card I made for ScrapGal this month. I chose all My Mind's Eye product this month. For this card, I decided to cut up this paper...

from the Madison Avenue collection. And this sheet of diecuts...

Also from the Madison Avenue collection.

Hope you have a great Monday!

Ireland Album

2012-02-03T05:20:00.000-08:00

Today I just want to share a little bit of the album I am making for my mother-in-law.

Just to give you an idea of the feel of the album, here is the title page. You can get a feel for the color scheme (yellow, greens, blues, gray and white) I found that "Celtic" trim ages ago knowing someday I would need it :)
Also using a little bit of subtle patterned papers that go with the "theme", some Amy Tangerine washi tape, and Sassafras letter stickers.

My mother-in-law and I sat down and talked about what she really wanted for this book. After all, this trip was probably one of the highlights of her life. If you look at that photo with her parents, that smile on her face all those years ago, still lights up her face today when she talks about the trip :) It was so much fun to hear her stories. We went through all the photos she had, separated them into piles and figured out that the album needed to be done in sections. Such as preparing for the trip, the journey over, and then the different places she went while there.

That great postcard at the top of the page is one she brought back with her from that trip. In fact, she has a set of different postcards that we are going to use for each section's title page! I used clear photo corners to hold it in place so she can remove it if she wants. In fact, I am using clear photo corners for all of her photos!

In the end, I really, really hope I can do this album justice for her since it means so much! And then she will have a visual way to share her adventure with her grandchildren and possibly even great-grandchildren :)

Advice From Mom

2012-02-01T00:30:00.000-08:00

Happy February! It's a new month, and so it's time for new monthly challenges to go up at ScrapGal.
This month I have the photo challenge.

Like I said in my last post, time seems to be flying by to fast as my children get older. When I saw this photo of my son staring out the window on a snow day last February, I felt a little tug at my heart. I found myself wondering what he was thinking.
And then I decided to do a layout totally unrelated to the photo, but speaking from my heart.
All product is from My Mind's Eye except for the letters that spell MOM (American Crafts) and the cardstock (Bazzill Basics).
So my challenge is to scrap a photo, but tell a story totally unrelated to what is actually going on in the photo. Be inspired by the feeling in a photo!
I could have done a layout about the snow day and how he wished he could go out but it was really just to cold and windy.
Instead I chose to talk about what I hope for him because the photo made me feel such a hopeful feeling. :)

Hope you will join in! And if you want to check out the other challenges by the DT members this month, you can find them on the monthly challenge board :)

Time Flies!!

2012-01-30T06:07:00.000-08:00

I just have to wonder as the month of January 2012 is already coming to a close, where is time going?! Thinking about how much has changed for us in the last few years since Erin was born. Each passing year seems to go by quicker and quicker for all of us.

One year ago she was at gymnastics! Now she is taking dance.

Two years ago she was playing dress-up with a dress-up kit from her godmother. Now she has princess dresses!

Three years ago, playing with snow inside and some of my preschool classroom materials.

Although big brother was able to paint the snow with food coloring and eye droppers. :)

And four years ago in January, an almost seven month old baby!

Yesterday going to visit Evan's school so Erin could check out the Kindergarten classrooms, reminded me of this photo! She was less than a month old when big brother started Kindergarten. And now here we are getting ready for her to begin in a few months and Evan to enter fifth grade!

It seems as if it is all slipping through my fingers some days.
I wish it would slow down just a little.
But time doesn't slow for anyone, and I think I will just continue to take photos and look back and smile.
And I am so glad I scrapbook, because it has made me so much more aware of these moments and how precious they are.
No matter how small :)

Miss You!

2012-01-27T00:30:00.000-08:00

Each month the design team at ScrapGal participates in a Product Showcase. This month we were given

two Maya Road Medallion flowers and...

two 7 Gypsies tags from this pack. I used my product to create a layout.

For some reason, the tags made me think of my grandma Ruth. It's funny how your mind works sometimes. What triggers thoughts of people. And I have been missing her a lot lately.
So I used the tags for photo mats and the flowers to embellish the tags :) Some crocheted trim added to my tag that I misted and used to journal completed the layout.
Originally it was just going to be an 8 1/2 x11 layout on white cardstock. By sheer chance I placed it on top of this green patterned paper which is actually also from the Crate Paper Snow Day line I've used for my other projects this month. That paper has such a different more elegant feel to it. A happy accident :)

If you would like to see how two of the other design team members used the same product, you can check out this blog post. It is a Mad About Members Monday post, but the design team projects are at the bottom.
Have a great weekend!

Let It Snow!

2012-01-25T00:30:00.000-08:00

I have a post up on the ScrapGal blog about this layout...

I had a lot of fun using the Crate Paper Snow Day line! It's been a while since I used rub-on's and found them perfect for embellishing this layout. Along with a snow border sticker and a few phrase stickers :)
Have you completed any winter layouts yet this year?

Coming Soon! :)

2012-01-23T06:08:00.000-08:00

Well, the Craft and Hobby Association (or CHA as it is known in the scrapbook world) is going to have their winter trade show at the end of the month. And all of the scrapbook message boards and manufacturer blogs have been sharing peeks and full reveals of the new scrapbook product they will be releasing soon! The trade show will give the scrapbook store and kit club owners, to name a few, the chance to see the new product in person.

My scrapbook shopping habits have changed considerably the last two years. I definitely do not spend as much on scrapbook product, and I am much pickier about what I buy! I have to really, really love it and know I am going to use it. So thankfully I haven't seen to much that has tempted me yet :)
But here are a few of the items being released soon that are favorites for me!

1. Cosmo Cricket just can't go wrong with these adorable tiny text stickers! Love them and can imagine lots of ways to use them!

I really love the colors in Crate Paper's new Storyteller line. And since I plan on trying to work on trip scrapbooks this year (can you say Ireland and Seattle from 2009!), I this line will be great!

Another favorite line coming out by Crate Paper - Pretty Party. I have to say, I think Crate Paper is going to be one of my favorites this time around.

And I have to say, I think Studio Calico's Abroad line is going to be another favorite! I love the prints and colors and can see myself using it for travel scrapbooks as well! Plus, Studio Calico has some other amazing pieces coming out like...

these map Thickers...

and how adorable are these wood veneer people. Can see making gifts with these for family and friends. Maybe wall hangings with the family name and then one person for each family member :)

I am also a sucker for tiny type alphas. Especially in one of my favorite colors!

This bubble mask will be great for misting! I love bubbles :)

And as for October Afternoon, well so far we have seen peeks of two new lines. This one is my favorite. But I love the retro 50's feel to it! And will save judgement til I see the rest of the line.

American Crafts also has two new lines coming out by Amy Tan and Elizabeth Kartchner. And even though I have only seen peeks, I am looking forward to seeing more!

What new releases are you looking for to this CHA?

All About Me Challenge

2012-01-18T20:53:00.000-08:00

Rita, our design team coordinator, over at ScrapGal posed a challenge for all the members on the boards.
It's basically an "all about me" challenge since there are several new members hanging out at the boards right now during the design team call.
She encouraged the design team to play along, too.

And this is what I came up with. Just a little bit about me right now. I'm not always to comfortable doing pages like this, but it was fun to put together. And I decided to use photos with my family instead of just me because really they are what it is all about for me right now. My main focus. I actually cut up an extra Christmas photo card to get these pics :)

Do you ever do "all about me" pages?

Happy Winter!

2012-01-16T05:58:00.000-08:00

My first January layout for ScrapGal.

I am by no means a winter person. And on top of that, last winter was pretty brutal here weather wise. but there were definitely fun moments. These photos were taken on a snow day when we had a play date in the park across the street from our home with friends and neighbors. I also have a 12x12 page divided protector from We R Memory Keepers that holds more photos of that day with our friends that will sit right next to this page in the album.
The main product I used was from the Snow Day line by Crate Paper found here.

I started with this paper as my base and then added pieces of these phrase and journal spot stickers...

using Happy Winter as my title on the photo block.

I also handcut snowflakes from this paper and added throughout as embellishments with button and twine.
To embellish the top right and bottom left corners, I cut a few strips from this paper...

because I liked the stitched effect. And I also used these border stickers...

Just the blue for this layout. I used several others for another :)
I also used some American Crafts washi tape (it's the little things) and Studio Calico white mist.
Although funny story - I wanted white all along and accidentally grabbed my Mister Huey Shine mist instead. They look so similar. As I was using it, I realized it didn't have the effect I wanted. Then it hit me that it was the shine. I was still able to use the white though and the shine didn't really hurt it :)

So far I really can't complain about this winter though. One snow "storm" so far with lots of mild temperatures and more sunshine than usual. How is your weather so far this winter?

ScrapGal Design Team Call

2012-01-13T05:44:00.000-08:00

ScrapGal is having a design team call right now, and the information about how to apply is here. I really enjoy working for SG because Rita, the dt coordinator, and Jenn, the owner are so friendly and easy to work with. The requirements just involve three projects a month from product we get to pick ourselves from the store, board participation, and the occasional crop or blog hop. Not overwhelming at all, but fun!

In fact, two of the layouts I designed for them this year are appearing in Scrapbooks Etc... for the April and June issues. So I am scrapping projects that I love and getting published! A double bonus :)

If you are looking for a great place to design for, come check out the site and say hello!
Hope to see you there :)

In other news, looking forward to going out with these girls on Saturday night. We started a tradition a few years ago where we have a girl's night out for our birthdays. Tomorrow we are celebrating Brooke's by going to dinner and seeing the new Twilight movie. We are just going to catch it still in the theaters!
I do not know what I would do without these women. We are basically raising our kids together. Like a little village. And I know I would do anything for them. And they have been such a big support to us, especially with Mike traveling so much. I am so very, very grateful for them! Everyone needs a group of women like this in their lives. And I can't wait for our night out! :)

What are your plans for the weekend? Anything special?

Out of This World!

2012-01-11T06:11:00.000-08:00

Just a layout to share today that I made for fun! :)

Wanted to do a layout about the stage U2 used on their latest tour. It is going down in the record books I think :) I used all October Afternoon's Rocket Age line on this layout. Except for the orange "world". That would be American Crafts. The photo is from the first show we saw in Chicago.Evan went to this one with us.

Such a fun experience :) And he was so excited!
And the layout is going into my U2 concert memories album :)

A Memory to Scrapbook

2012-01-09T05:17:00.000-08:00

So one of my favorite memories from Christmas morning was...

this one. Yoda and the clone troopers (Evan's Christmas gift) coming to visit Erin's Strawberry Bitty Cafe. Loved it! And a great memory came back to me. How my brother and I used to play "school" with his Star Wars Action Figures and play sets. Looking back now, I can't believe I made him do that. Yoda's planet was the elementary school, and the Cantina from Star Wars was the high school.

All the smaller action figures like R2D2 and the Jawas were elementary students. It was a lot of fun :)

So when my brother Pete (shown here) and his wife made it in town for Christmas, we were pretty excited. It's been awhile since we have spent Christmas together. And I reminded him about our time back in the day playing school. His first reaction was "Oh my God! I do." And I thought he was going to be all mad that he was forced to play school with his star wars figures by an older sister. But then he said something that made me smile. He said that he thought it was fun, and basically great that I would play with him.

So when Evan, Erin and I were playing this new version of Clone Wars and Strawberry Shortcake on Christmas morning, it felt as if a new memory was in the making. And even though Evan and Erin fight something awful sometimes (as brothers and sisters are known to do. Right, Pete? lol) I love seeing them be sweet to each other. Because there are so many more moments when they look out for each other. And treat each other kindly. And respect each other. And I hope they continue that as they grow older and have the kind of relationship that I have with my brother. As friends and not just siblings :)
Now I need to go scrapbook this! :)

Top 11 of 2011

2012-01-06T05:15:00.000-08:00

In no particular order, here are my eleven favorite projects of 2011:

I actually created this one from a sketch from the Crate Paper blog. I had a lot of fun with this one because I just loved working with those photos :)

A favorite memory :) Photo was from 2009, but I didn't scrap it til this year.

I love that photo, and that song by U2!

A little bit of a messier style for me with the misting, but I still managed to keep it clean and simple with the grid design. And it talks about the relationship Erin and Evan have right now :)

This one was a complete learning experience with the misting and alphabet letter masking, but also fun to do!

Loved the flower on this one. My favorite season scrapbooked :)

Really, really loved how fun this one was to do. Love the colors, the little bit of misting and just taking a chance for me on using the Doodlebug product. Not typically my style :)

I want to do more layouts like this. About what life was like right at that moment :)

An actual 2pager and really important moment for Evan :)

Really liked going back and scrapbooking these older photos :)

And the mini album I made out of the photos as well is on my all time favorite projects list :)

It was a lot harder than I thought it would be to pick favorites. Plus, one of my fave projects of the year will be in the June issue of Scrapbooks Etc..., so I can't even post it!
Also love seeing how much I experimented this year with something new - mists. And how I used different sizes. There were other projects, such as my recipe book, laundry room sign, decorated chipboard house, and even cards that showed me that I am branching out from just layouts!
Really looking forward to seeing where 2012 takes me :)

Cards

2012-01-04T06:07:00.000-08:00

I know Christmas is past, but I so very rarely make cards and wanted to share.
These cards were made for Evan and Erin's teachers and support staff at their schools. :)

Used the "I Believe" line from My Mind's Eye and some October Afternoon rub-on's. Plus acrylic stamps by Imaginisce and Bella Blvd. :)
This is probably the biggest batch of cards I have done since last Christmas. I usually do not make more than one or two at a time. And not that often. Although I am still trying to make a card from the scraps every time I create a layout :)
Right now I am working on my mother-in-law's Ireland album, so that is my main focus! I am really enjoying it and will have a few photos to share soon!

Happy 2012!!

2012-01-02T05:54:00.001-08:00

Where on earth did 2011 go?Really the fastest year for us yet.But here we are in 2012, and I am actually pretty excited to see what is in store for us this year :)

We had a great two weeks of holiday celebrations with family and friends! We baked cookies, decorated the house, saw the Christmas train display, and spent lots and lots of time with people from in town and out of town. It was probably one of the most relaxing Christmases I have had in a while.

But it's time to get back into real life time. School and work start for the kids and Mike again tomorrow, and I am ready to get back in a routine!

I have a layout up for a color challenge at ScrapGal for the month of January. I kept it pretty simple for a challenge - use a color you normally wouldn't use. For me that would be hot pink or magenta. I usually avoid that type of color completely. But for this layout, I thought it added a nice punch of color :)

Also at ScrapGal this month, we are having a DESIGN TEAM CALL for a six month term. You can read about the application guidelines and expectations here! I hope you will come check it out :) Jenn is also having a big sale right now

So if you are looking for some good prices on product, you will find it here!

Happy New Year, everyone!

Christmas Vacation from Blogging

2011-12-16T07:55:00.000-08:00

Not because I am feeling stressed in any way :) And I really mean that.
This is my year to just enjoy Christmas and not worry about the to do's.
I am done with Christmas shopping. So that's a huge chunk out of the way.
But the blog doesn't fit in with what I want to do right now.
And how I want to enjoy the holidays. The last Christmas before Erin starts Kindergarten :-O
So I will be back after the holidays ready for the new year!
Hope you have a good one! :)

Ten on Tuesday - Christmas Style

2011-12-06T05:06:00.001-08:00

1. Christmas Shopping for the kids is pretty much almost done!

2. Of course, Christmas shopping for Mike isn't. He's a hard one to buy for any time of year! And with a birthday in December as well as Christmas, it is doubly hard :) But I actually think I have the perfect surprise for his birthday this week. Can't wait to give it to him! I'll let you know if he was truly surprised :)

3. Feeling in the Christmas spirit the last few days. Decided it's so worth it for the kids to look at it from their perspective and not of a mommy "who must get things done!" It's making all the difference. Right now at least ;)

4. Thankful for shopping carts that hold your stuff for days on end :)

5. Thankful for neighbors who make unique, fun Christmas music CD's as their Christmas cards for all of us!

6. Love that Eric Carle has a new children's book out and it looks wonderful!

Erin and a cousin are getting this one for Christmas :)

7. And speaking of Christmas books for children, Mike and I have decided that this one...

is our all time favorite!!! It is absolutely adorable and has a great message at the end for families. But not obnoxiously so!

8. Decided against doing a December Daily album which was hard because I have seen so many amazing ones so far! But am going to do a December recap instead using...

this line by October Afternoon. Love the vintage feel! And that little record die-cut is getting a whole layout all by itself! Also using this journal...

by Studio Calico!

9. Making a scrapbook album for my mother-in-law for Christmas. It is about a trip she took with her mom and dad to Ireland back in the 50's to visit!! So many amazing photos and stories she has to tell. She is the reason I wanted to go visit this place when Mike and I went there in 2009...

Kylemore abbey. Anyway, I am pretty excited to help her and just hope I can do it justice!

10. I want this ornament!

As someone who grew up on Fisher Price toys, I think it is absolutely adorable :)

What is on your Christmas wish list?

Christmas Pajamas

2011-12-02T04:40:00.001-08:00

Posting on my blog two days in a row doesn't happen very often, but...

it is my turn to post on the ScrapGal blog today. This is the layout I featured as part of my post titled Scrapping the Same but Different :)
Have a great weekend!

December Sketch Challenge at ScrapGal

2011-12-01T00:30:00.000-08:00

As unbelievable as it may seem, it is now December, and it's my turn to post the sketch challenge at ScrapGal this month.

I worked backwards by creating my layout first. I had a particular topic in mind that I wanted to scrap this month and knew the exact photos I wanted to use as well. I think this is a story that I will have to keep hidden in a personal album so that Erin or my future grandchildren won't stumble across it by accident. I'm also debating about hiding the story, but am not quite sure how I want to do that yet.
For this layout I used American Crafts foil thickers, letter stickers by Basic Grey and...

the "I Believe" paper and accessories kit from My Mind's Eye and...

So for now, here is the sketch...

Pretty simple :) If you would like to participate in the challenge, you can post a link to your finished layout in my thread on the "monthly contests" board by December 31st. Would love to see your interpretation of the sketch!

Well, this little boy...

2011-11-28T05:33:00.001-08:00

finally knows the secret about Santa.

He was only a few months old in this photo. Six and a half months actually and now he is nine years old. :)I can't say it comes as any great surprise. And I am pretty sure he has suspected for at least a year or two, but didn't want to admit it.I will say, talking with him about it was a little sad and hard for me.But I had found this, The truth about Santa, on Pinterest and it gave me a little more to add to what I wanted to say to him.

So as of now, he is pretty excited about being on "team Santa" for his little sister Erin and all the friends and cousins who still don't know the secret. And he has promised not to spill the beans for them!
Hopefully it won't be to hard for him to keep the secret :)

Scrapping For Fun!

2011-11-16T20:13:00.001-08:00

Many scrapbookers will tell you that they have enough product in their personal inventory to scrap for a long time without ever making another purchase. Well, except for your basics like adhesive maybe.
And we talk about using up our "stash". The older product that sits and sits waiting to finally be pulled out and used to make the perfect layout :)
But lately I have been setting myself a goal. And that is to use my newer product! Instead of buying something and letting it become stash, I am challenging myself to use it and not "hoard" it!I loved the Rocket Age line by October Afternoon because of it's retro feel and cute design.

So when I came across this photo that was going in my already scrapped photos box, I was inspired to create something for my "All About Me" album. The layouts that tell my stories and feelings I want to remember! And Borders is one of those places that I will remember, but my grandchildren will never know!
This layout also expresses a little of the sadness I feel at how many places that have ceased to exist in my lifetime already. And what might possibly be next. And I wonder about the places I may never see, but my children and grandchildren will one day frequent.
It's interesting how quickly things can change :)

Going to be taking a little bit of a blog break until after Thanksgiving here. Mike is taking the week off and won't be traveling. It will be great to have him home and I know we will want to spend as much time with him as possible! See you after the holiday! :)

Basic Grey Cards

2011-11-14T04:33:00.001-08:00

I don't make cards to often. For the occasional birthday or Christmas for the teachers. I also did a card swap with a group of scrap friends a few years ago that was a lot of fun. Otherwise, I just haven't been creating cards, even though few years ago, I read Stacey Julian's book Big Picture Scrapbooking . And one of the things she recommended doing after creating a layout, was to use the scraps and make a card.. Which I think is a brilliant idea!

So I decided to do just that with my the leftovers from my November design team product. I had some great scraps left and created not one but two cards :) I have already used the "hi" card to send to my sister-in-law. The "you are so sweet!" card is going to be a thank you for a friend.
I miss the process of snail mail in this age of electronic communication and am happy to be sending some out.
Do you still send cards or letters through the mail?

Laundry Room Sign

2011-11-11T05:02:00.001-08:00

Each of the little houses we decorated for the blog hop came with a different shaped chipboard mini-album. Mine reminded me a little of a picket fence. And with the Maya Road laundry chipboard I had received, I pictured a clothesline hanging in a backyard. :) So I began assembling a sign to hang in my laundry room.

The first step was to attach each piece to a piece of leftover chipboard backing that had come in my package to keep my patterned paper from bending. I actually didn't end up using every piece from the mini-album. It comes with six but that felt to long to me. Five seemed just right!

I then cut around the sign to remove the excess chipboard.

I covered it in Basic Grey Nook and Pantry Beaters paper because I like the blue sky color.

Here is a better look at the blue color in the paper, because it didn't look right in the other photo.

After covering each piece of chipboard in a different piece of patterned paper from the Basic Grey Nook and Pantry line, I began assembling my sign. Lots of fun to put together and it became a family project!

My four year old daughter wanted to play along :) Here is her version of a sign "just like mommy's"!
If you have any questions feel free to ask in the comments section. :)

* Blog Hop Winner!"

2011-11-08T06:59:00.000-08:00

According to Random.org, the winner is #16!

Christasaid...: What cute projects!; November 4, 2011 10:50 AM

Please email me at maryjo1997@gmail.com so I can send you your prize!Thanks for joining in, everyone :)

Recipe Book

2011-11-07T04:40:00.000-08:00

Each of the ScrapGal Design Team members were asked to create something for our "Home For the Holidays" crop this past weekend. The line I had chosen to work with from the store was Basic Grey's Nook and Pantry line which is basically a food theme. This led me to thinking about how my friends and I are always wanting to exchange recipes. Which then led me to thinking about recipe books as Christmas gifts!

Simple, easy to put together recipe books that is :) Because if you know me, the easier and quicker these days, the better! And this recipe book was nice and simple by scrapbook standards. Using two pieces of thin chipboard, I created covers for my book. The most time consuming part of this project was hand cutting the cupcakes from the BG patterned paper :) You could always use chipboard or rub-on's or stickers!

Here is a shot of the front and back cover. More patterned paper covering the page.

That fun polka dot paper is covering the inside of the front cover and the back cover!

And the recipe cards I used are from a line called Kitschy Kitchen by Melissa Frances. There are a lot of cards in the pack in different colors and patterns as you can see. I split the package in half to make two albums.
Today I see now that the recipe cards are no longer in the store. The chipboard set I used for the Queen of the Kitchen circle on the cover is, but not the recipe card pack.
I have seen tons of recipe card packs for $1 at places like Michael's and Target in the dollar section. Or it would be super easy to design a cute little set your self on the computer or use a site like free printable recipe cards
That way you could make as many cards as you wanted.
As for me, I plan on sharing my albums with friends this Christmas using a few of our family's favorite recipes :)

*And I will announce a blog hop winner tomorrow :)*

ScrapGal Blog Hop and "Home for the Holidays" Crop!

2011-11-04T01:30:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Scrap Gal's Home for the Holidays blog hop!You have until midnight Sunday, November 6th to complete the hop!We also have an online crop going on in the forum, so please join us at ScrapGal for lots of fun and inspiring challenges!We are giving away lots of prizes and would love to see you there!
By visiting all of the design team members blogs and leaving a comment, you are also entered to win prizes :)

Each design team member was given a Maya Road chipboard house to decorate. There are three different types and I received the town home!

I used the Basic Grey Nook and Pantry line to decorate mine since I will be keeping it in the kitchen. I am going to store matches in it away from prying little eyes and hands up on a windowsill. I am forever searching for matches and it will be nice to have them in one place.

Here is the back of the house. I used the teapot paper with a touch of pink to mix in with all the green I used. And some Heidi Swapp tape on the edges of the roof. Also as you can see in the top photo, each house comes with a chipboard mini album. I put mine to use making a sign for our soon to be finished newly remodeled laundry room.

The album kind of reminded me of the wooden boards in a picket fence. So I attached them together (a tutorial will be in a future blog post soon.) and sanded the edges. The patterned paper and alphabet stickers are Basic Grey Nook and Pantry. I also used buttons and bird stickers by October Afternoon, twine by Doodlebug, and a scallop punch by Fiskars :)
This project is actually my monthly challenge for November. You can see all those challenges as well as the crop challenges on the boards. Monthly challenges can be found on the Monthly Contest board.

And now on to the Blog Hop!
Please visit the following blogs on your way. The other members did some really cute things with their houses :)
ScrapGal
Guest Designer Nicolle
Michelle
Myself
Marcie
Heather
Rita

For leaving a comment today, I will enter you to win a small prize pack including two of my favorite brands - October Afternoon and Cosmo Cricket.

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you at the crop!! :)

2011-11-02T05:23:00.000-07:00

I have a post today on the ScrapGal blog talking about this layout I created for the month of November. You can see it here! :)

A Trunk or Treat Win by a Landslide :)

2011-11-01T07:24:00.000-07:00

Mike went really big this year and decided to recreate a little bit of Hogwarts castle :) Erin was Hermione, Mike was Dumbledore, I was Professor McGonagall and my friend Elise was Bellatrix.

Mike made the sign, too. Do you recognize the October Afternoon letter stickers from the Campfire line :)
So I did contribute a little besides dressing up. Oh and the stained glass window made using scraps of cardstock.

It was so much fun passing out candy to the kids!

And receiving our trophy for receiving the most votes :)

Later that night, after a potluck dinner with neighbors that we hosted, Strawberry Shortcake a.k.a Erin went trick or treating with me, cousin Ethan, Aunt Janel and several neighbors and friends!

Evan opted to stay home with dad and pass out candy. He wanted to help scare the trick or treaters :) Really a fun Halloween!

Busy Weekend and a Busy Halloween :)

2011-10-30T20:14:00.000-07:00

So it all started on Friday :) My husband called me in the morning because he had just been given two tickets to game seven of the World Series! Of course I said yes and luckily our neighbors could babysit for us. I gave them money for a pizza dinner and bought Cardinals cupcakes at a local bakery so they could all celebrate, too :)

And the Cardinals won! It was such an amazing feeling to see them win the World Series. And such craziness afterwards. But not in a riot sort of way. Just lots of happy fans everywhere! We didn't get home until 1am, so needless to say we were very tired the next day.
Between a baby shower and a fun backyard movie night at another neighbor's house on Saturday. Plus lots of prep on Sunday for Trunk or Treat at Evan's school and the party we are hosting before trick or treating tomorrow, well it's been a busy weekend.

I can't wait to get photos of what Mike is working on for Trunk or Treat! Several parents at Evan's school (us included) bring Halloween decorated cars up to the school parking lot so the children can go out for an hour and trick or treat in the parking lot from car to car.
We are doing a Harry Potter theme this year. And at this moment Mike is assembling a giant version of a portion of Hogwart's castle. He also has a sign he made pointing to Hogsmeade or Hogwart's it's pretty cool.
He is dressing as Dumbledore, I am McGonagall, Erin is Hermione and a friend who helped us with costumes is going to be Bellatrix.
It should be a lot of fun and we should have some great photos.

Mike really goes all out. Two years ago he turned his black truck into a giant tie fighter from Star Wars. He dressed as Darth Vader and Erin was Yoda. Plus with the Star Wars Imperial theme music blaring from the radio, it was perfect!
So as you can see, the Hogwarts castle is going to be pretty great!

As for scrapbooking, I will have some new projects to share for the month of November from Scrap Gal on Tuesday. And this upcoming weekend, we have a blog hop on Friday and a "Home for the Holidays" crop as well.
But tomorrow - Halloween, am just going to enjoy and get lots of photos!
Happy Halloween!

A Challenge

2011-10-26T07:42:00.000-07:00

Stephanie Howell has started a monthly blogging challenge that I think I'm going to try today.

In her own words, "it's a pretty simple challenge. blog your heart. HONESTLY. it can be silly, funny, serious, short or long...whatever you want it to be. as long as it is authentic"

Here goes :)

1. In September I started my healthy living goals. September was drink more water and no soda. Success! October, not so much. My goal was to work on sleep. Namely getting to bed by 11pm every night that Mike is gone. No staying up til 12:30 or 1am because I am exhausted and really don't feel that great the next day. I would say that I started strong, but have really just had a tough time lately. I'm like a little kid who tells mommy, "I don't want to go to bed." It's hard for me to let go and just let myself sleep. It feels like wasting time when I could be getting things done. And with Mike gone, there really is very little "free" time. I feel like I am going, going, going non-stop! I am going to make this my goal again in November though and really make the effort because I know more sleep = a happier, healthier me :)

2. Found out that Mike will most likely get the job in Joplin. What does that mean for us? Well, no longer working in Canada and a little closer to home. But still 5 hours away. So pretty likely the same type of work schedule. Home on weekends, gone Sunday night through Friday night most weeks. I keep telling everyone I am fine. It's ok. It's a job in this economy. The kids are doing great. Well, except to my real friends. The ones who love me no matter what :) But it's hard. This Joplin job is three years long. When it is completed, Erin will be seven years old and Evan will be 12. That is a long time for him to have to be gone so much. I know it's hard for him and he feels like he misses out on so much. But we are both grateful for weekends home and the occasional extra day or two to be around during the week :) Plus computer cameras to talk every night and phone cameras so I can send him daily updates. Like when Erin had her surgery! And I know we will be ok. We really have a great support network. Friends and family who are there for us and really, truly care! I will always and forever be grateful for them and can't do enough in return! When they say it takes a village to raise our children, they aren't kidding! And we belong to a great "village" :) So that always helps me in the end!

3. A lesson I have learned about family and friendship - true friends and people who love you will accept you flaws and all. They will not judge you and find you lacking because you can't give them every single thing they want. They understand that everyone is human. We are not perfect. And this is something I take into every single relationship I have and I think it makes my current friendships stronger because there are no expectations. Just friendship and support.

4. As far as healthy goals, exercise is going well. In the past six weeks, I have only missed three days of exercise. And one of those was due to Erin's surgery. The other two days, I just wasn't feeling well. And I know that will happen. But in the past, I might have let myself slip into going a few more days without exercise and that just hasn't happened...yet (lol). But I think I am on the right track this time. The days I missed exercise, I felt completely sluggish and out of sorts. The days I do exercise, I feel my mood lifted and healthier. So it is a great incentive! Adding pilates and strength training to the mix has helped a lot as well! So I am walking/jogging or doing turbo jam five days a week. And then the other two days are a combo of pilates, weight training and yoga. Although I do try to get a little bit of yoga in every day. Even if it's just me doing a short yoga routine after cardio. Yoga just really relaxes me :)

So now I am off to exercise because I know it will make me feel better! :)

7 Gypsies "BOO at the Zoo" Mini :)

2011-10-23T20:43:00.000-07:00

For the product showcase at Scrap Gal this month, we received

this little 7 Gypsies Matchbook mini album and...

a 7 Gypsies rubber band. Usually pretty useful for holding close those mini's that have a bunch of embellishments :) But the challenge for us was that it was to big for the matchbook mini. So we had to find a different way to use it. I have to admit I was a little stumped.

I knew that for the mini, I wanted to create a tiny album with some of our Boo at the Zoo photos with friends from a previous year. So I had fun making this little photo collage in Picasa! The pictures were pretty small and worked perfectly in the mini :)

I used all Little Yellow Bicycle for this one. The cover uses patterned paper, fabric borders and fabric oval embellishment which I inked around the edges.

On the inside, I covered the pages with patterned paper, my tiny photos and tiny alpha stickers my Making Memories. These are the front side of my pages...

and these are the back. I made an attempt to use my rubber band to stamp on a few of the pages, but I didn't really like the effect. It was a little to hard to manipulate. So I think I will just stick to using it to hold my super embellished mini's together!

On My Mind Tonight...

2011-10-20T00:00:00.000-07:00

Missing Mike. It's been harder than I expected to have him working on this project in Canada. I mean it's only four months right? And he worked the last job for 3 1/2 years! But that was only an hour and a half away. So much easier for him to come home if needed. And more often. Not just weekends. It gives me the most amazing respect for single parents who do it 24/7.

Hockey Hall of Fame photo taken from our trip we took to see him in August :) Anyway, as a result, I am just not sleeping good at night. A little better this month since it is my "healthy living" goal. But still having some nights where I just can't get to sleep. And tonight Evan is having trouble sleeping. Why you may ask? Well apparently the librarian read a really spooky book at school today. You know the old myths and legends about the murderer with the hook that when the couple drive off they find the hook on the door when they get home. And one about a spider laying eggs in someone's cheek, and a spooky guy who crashed his carriage and then his ghost tries to give people rides. Only he starts haunting elevators that crash. I know it was keeping Evan up tonight. Not quite sure it was the best choice of book to read to the students.

A friend of mine from grade school took this photo tonight at the World Series. Cardinals are winning right now! Hope they can hold on :)

And for fun right now my favorite alphabet stickers for scrapbooking are...

this type from Sassafras Lass. Especially in the gray. I just stocked up on a bunch of different colors, but really love the gray!

And these by October Afternoon. Their Mini Market alphas. They are both right up there for me with American Crafts Thickers alphabets right now :)

What's on your mind right now?

Fourteen Years...

2011-10-18T07:05:00.000-07:00

of marriage and counting today!

A recent photo of the two of us from our family trip to the pumpkin patch :)

I know I shared this layout back in April, but the title pretty much sums up how I feel about him :)
Happy Anniversary, Mike!

Two More Scrapgal Projects

2011-10-14T05:21:00.000-07:00

Why is it always so hard to get back to routine and catch up after a trip, no matter how small?! But here I am. Back to normal :) And glad to be back with the kids!So I am going to share my last two official projects for the month of October for Scrapgal.

The first is a layout. I find myself making more 8 1/2x11 layouts lately just for fun or personal to me topics! And this one was just for fun! All of the product is Little Yellow Bicycle from their Frightful line. Except for the Martha Stewart candy wrapper embellishment, the Making Memories letter stickers and the American Crafts Thickers.

And I don't typically make cards, but have decided to try to get in the habit again of making cards with my scraps after working on layouts. These two are definitely using my scraps. Especially those cool fabric border strips. I love those!
So there you have it for the month of October. I did three layouts and two cards in all. Plus a little matchbook mini that will be coming up in the next few weeks. But I'm not supposed to share that yet! :)

Canada - The Anniversary Edition!

2011-10-11T20:48:00.000-07:00

Technically, our anniversary isn't until October the 18th. Fourteen years :) But in Canada, this Monday was their Thanksgiving holiday. So Mike thought it would be a great idea for us to celebrate this past weekend instead since he had an extra day off work. Since he's been working on this project in Canada, I will admit it has been tough. We miss seeing him every night and are grateful for computer cameras :) I felt a little guilty about leaving the kids for two days to go up to see him. And he felt guilty about not coming home for the weekend. But we decided that this was something we both needed. Some time with each other!

So I caught a flight to Canada on Saturday morning. The first time I have EVER flown alone :)

He was waiting for me at the airport with a big smile. And then we got in the car and started driving. I caught on pretty quickly that something was up and we weren't just going back to his apartment to spend the weekend when the GPS said our destination was a little over two hours away.

What a beautiful drive! And we had beautiful weather all weekend!

And what a surprise to end up here at a resort on the lake in Muskoka, Canada!

The view was amazing! And there was so much to do and great food at the restaurants! We went to dinner the first night and then were able to go a one hour presentation on the night sky. It was so amazing to look through that giant telescope and see Jupiter, four of it's moons and the actual moon itself. We were at the perfect spot.The next day I took a yoga class while Mike went biking. Then we hiked, went kayaking and just relaxed! I really felt so relaxed and peaceful all day.

And here is a lake view of the resort from our kayak! Sunday we hiked some more and then it was time to head back to the Toronto airport. It was such a great weekend. One I will never forget! :)

Today is My Day...

2011-10-05T04:40:00.000-07:00

to post on the Scrapgal blog. I did a little post on the benefits of scraplifting.

This is the page I created using mostly the Little Yellow Bicycle Frightful line, alphabet letters by American Crafts and the kraft journal spot is by Making Memories.

Erin loves to swing so much! Ever since she was a tiny, little girl :) She can definitely pump her legs now, but still likes to be pushed every now and then. And the higher, the better! I used to joke and tell her she was going to end up on the moon :)
I didn't want to do just Halloween themed layouts this month despite having Halloween product. And when I was flipping through my October photos and saw this older one, my title jumped into my head. Along with that chipboard moon. Then I remembered a tutorial I read in one of the magazines about cutting striped paper diagonally and everything kind of fell into place from there thanks to Sara Winnick :)

How often do you "scraplift" layouts?

You & Me

2011-10-03T04:52:00.000-07:00

I was actually able to complete one of the challenge's this weekend at the Scrapgal Fall Fun crop :) This layout was for Steffanie's 6x6 patterned paper pad challenge. You could only use patterned paper 6x6 or smaller. I was also inspired by Marcie's September photo challenge to scrap using only one photo 3x4 or smaller.
This photo is of me and my dad. And all the product is October Afternoon's new Sidewalks line!

I am really, really lucky when it comes to dads! I know that :) And I have a lot of good memories from my childhood because of him. So I just wanted to share that for him and Evan and Erin as well!

October!

2011-10-01T06:04:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it is October already?!! But it's time for me to start sharing my October design team projects from Scrapgal. I've decided to change things up a bit by sharing my projects throughout the month instead of all on the first.

My first project this month is my monthly challenge. I have the technique/product challenge this month. I worked mostly with the Little Yellow Bicycle Frightful Collection this month so most of my projects have a Halloween/Fall theme. But not all :) I love the look of tape on layouts and washi tape seems to be a big trend right now! I didn't have any on hand. But I did have these...

Fabric borders :) I decided to cut them apart and use them like tape as you can see on my layout above. So my challenge to you is - Use tape on your project! Whether it's actual washi, masking, or fabrips.
And I also used older photos from seven years ago! So for a bonus challenge, try using older photos :)
In my last post, I mentioned my goal of giving up soda and drinking more water for my monthly "healthier living" goal.

For October, I am going to focus on sleep! I am terrible at getting to bed at a decent hour when Mike is out of town. And with this project he is working on in Canada and only being able to come home on weekends, you can imagine how much sleep I am losing out on. But I know that I feel better when I get a good night's rest. I am less cranky and have more energy. And I don't get as run down. I almost fight myself to go to bed though. So my goal for October, is to be in bed by 11pm every night that I am home. 11pm may not sound early to a lot of people, but for someone who is staying up until 12:30 or 1am, it will make a big difference. And it's all in baby steps, right? Which is what I intended when I started my monthly goal series :)
So soda - a success! Sleep will hopefully be as well!

And don't forget! The Fall Fun Crop is going on at Scrapgal right now. Each of our Guest Design Team members posted a challenge on the crop board. And I have one started right now - Steffanie's 6x6 patterned paper pad challenge :)
Have a great weekend!

On My Mind...

2011-09-28T04:54:00.000-07:00

Just a few things after taking a week off blogging. I need a blog break every once in awhile so I don't get burned out.Not that I am a daily poster by any means, but I do try to post a few times a week :)

I decided at the beginning of September to make monthly goals for myself regarding my health. I find if I give myself a short term goal where I try it for a few weeks and don't tell myself "never again!, I am more successful. The first goal - no soda and drink more water! And now that September is almost over, I have done it! One sip of soda that tasted horrible to me when I made the kids root beer floats. It was icky, sweet. Haven't had a drink of it since! It's not like I was a big soda drinker to begin with. Maybe just one every few days. But I noticed I was drinking it more and more for a sugar rush. Not sure what my next goal is for October, but I have a few thoughts in mind!

The next few photos are taken on my camera phone. I really love having a camera phone!

Dance class! She is loving it :)

Naps are a thing of the past. Except the occasional one in the car :)

And I have been scrapbooking, but mostly Scrapgal assignments. So I won't be able to start posting those until this Saturday (Oct. 1) Also this upcoming weekend though, the Guest Design Team is hosting a crop at Scrapgal. It will be kind of nice to just sit back on this one and participate :) If you are looking for some challenges and a chance to win prizes, Scrapgal is your place to go this weekend!

Product Showcase at Scrapgal

2011-09-20T05:10:00.000-07:00

For the month of September's product showcase, the design team was given a manilla tag and...

this pretty trim from Prima. I am really loving mist right now and decided to use the trim as a mask for my tag.
You may remember the Mini-apple album I did on this post. Whenever I create a mini, I usually do at least one layout for the family album to go with it. I used most of the same product that I used in the album so that made it super easy to come together :)
If you would like to see how the rest of the design team used their tag and trim, you will be able to find their projects in the "Product Showcase" board here. They should all be going up today and tomorrow!

Amazing!

2011-09-14T05:16:00.000-07:00

The kids and I went with some good friends to see the flag memorial in Forest Park last night. Right on Art Hill in front of the Art Museum.

Evan was pretty much in awe. Over 3000 flags each with the name of one person who lost their life on 9/11. I guess if they count all the lives lost as a result of this tragedy, the number is much higher. But this was a reminder of that particular day.

I found myself crying as I looked at many of the poles, reading the names and info of a person that I have never met. And it made an impression on me. I think it did to Evan as well. Erin not so much. She is only four. But she was definitely more observant and in tune to it than I thought. As we were leaving she expressed the thought that it was a graveyard. Which I reassured her it wasn't. Just a way to remember and honor those who were gone.

The art museum also had a large flag on the front.

I thought it was an amazing, and touching tribute. I'm not sure how long it will be there, but I'm glad we went.

I Won't Forget

2011-09-11T06:24:00.000-07:00

This photo was taken of me on our way back from the Statue of Liberty in 1988. I was on a school trip to New York City. It was a great trip! We saw Broadway shows, and shopped and did all the typical sight seeing. And it was even better to be there with friends :) Little did I know how this photo would affect me when I found it a few years ago. It has an entirely different meaning.

I'm glad I have these photos though. And I keep telling myself I will scrapbook about 9/11 one day. If I do, I'm sure I will use these photos. But not yet.
My prayers and thoughts are with all those who lost family on that day ten years ago.

On the Go!

2011-09-08T05:13:00.000-07:00

I created this layout for fun using two separate challenges I found on-line. I have just discovered Shimelle Lane's blog and let's just say it is full of inspiration and great challenges! And I loved her "Starting Point" challenge here.
I actually heard about it on another blog and decided to give it a try.
Then Amy Tan had the weekly challenge on the Studio Calico blog this week. "Use something on a page that you normally wouldn't use." I used pieces of a map from the Botanical Gardens since I interpreted that challenge as non-scrapbook product! The may is actually an integral part of the story to this layout because Evan had used one like it to give us a "tour" of the gardens.
This past May we had gone to the Gardens with my husband's cousin Amy who was in town visiting. It was our first time meeting her and the kids just loved her. So I wanted to create a layout not so much about the actual gardens because I have several of those. But about the experience of meeting Amy and Evan being the perfect tour guide. Marking her map with the highlights of the tour and everything :)
Two fun challenges this week. And I can't wait to add Shimelle's blog link to my blog roll!

This Little Girl...

2011-09-06T07:26:00.000-07:00

was scheduled for a minor out patient surgery on her foot today. For a splinter that she got back in February!
It was the oddest thing. She got it on the top of her right foot. Such an unusual place for a splinter. Took her to the doctor because it looked awful and he tried to remove it.
Couldn't get it all out and sent us to the E.R. After exams by several doctors??? and an x-ray, they deemed it to small to remove it. Generally that is a good diagnosis. Just let it dissolve on it's own. It really was tiny what was left.
But a few months went by and it wasn't going away. In fact a bump started forming on her foot where the splinter was tucked away.
So another trip to the doctor for a dose of antibiotics and more foot soaks.
In July, the doctor finally said it had to come out.
So we have been trying since July to get a surgery scheduled. And her foot actually looks much better, but she was supposed to go in today. And then she got a cold two days ago.
Surgery cancelled!
I can't say I'm to upset. A little relieved actually because I am going to have another surgeon there look at it, since the one that was supposed to do the surgery is gone for a month now.
And if it's still deemed necessary to have it removed, then we will.
But I'm hoping that maybe it's not necessary now.
I guess we'll find out next week.
And Erin is happy now to say the least :)
But what a roller coaster ride it has been the past few days here emotionally!

If you have ever had a child need surgery, some reassuring words of wisdom would be great! :)

My New Phone :)

2011-09-02T06:09:00.000-07:00

I have a new post up on the Scrapgal blog. A tutorial using mists with acrylic stamps. And since the actual tutorial is already on that blog, I won't share it here. But I do want to share my layout on my own blog.

Yes, a layout about my phone! This one is going in my All About Me album, with all those random layouts I am doing and have nowhere else to put them :)
I do love my phone. I denied that I wanted a "fancy" phone for a long time. But then Mike bought me one for Valentine's Day and there was no looking back. I can't believe I was ok with my little, junky phone from Target. Let's just say though it suited me because I have lost one or two phones in my time, and didn't think I deserved a new phone :)
But this one is just fun!
And I think it will be fun for Evan and Erin, and any grand kids to look back some day and see the technology. I can just hear them saying "Look at this old phone she used!" ;)

Have you scrapped any recent technology?

Scrapgal September Projects

2011-09-01T04:38:00.000-07:00

It's September!! And I created four projects in all so far for www.scrapgal.com this month using product from Maya Road, Imaginisce, Jillibean Soup, American Crafts, October Afternoon and Cosmo Cricket.
My first project was this little apple mini-album which I used to finally scrap some photos from an apple picking expedition with my son! I always like to take turns scrapping the older photos along with the new. And this mini gave me the chance!

I covered it in this paper by Imaginisce. Adding a cute little apple tin pin and letter stickers by October Afternoon. A journal spot from Jillibean Soup is under the word picking.

This is the front of the album...

and this is the back. The apple paper is also by Imaginisce! I hand cut the apples out in places to use as embellishments as well throughout. Same with the trees you will see. Those were on the reverse side of the paper I used to cover the album.

The lined paper is from Basic Grey. And I did ink every stem and leaf using some of my own ink pads from my stash.

Journal spot is Jillibean soup from this sheet of stickers. Lots of fun stickers on that sheet, including a mini-alpha which is on the next page of my album spelling uh-oh :)

I love this photo because it is one of the clearest memories I have from the trip. Evan looking down at a squished rotten apple on the ground and saying "uh-oh" :)

And you can't go apple picking without eating a few apples right from the tree!

Letter stickers are Jillibean soup as are the two little hearts on the photo of Evan and I together. What a trip down memory lane this was. I mean these photos are from when he was two! And he just turned nine this year. So I say it's never to late to go back and scrap those older photos!!!

For the month of September, I have the journal challenge.
And I am challenging you to use this prompt for a scrapbook project - "If Only..."
For my layout, I used an older photo I took of Evan's room one day when it was clean. I mean really clean. We don't see it looking like this to often. In fact I like to describe his room as "creative chaos" :)
So if you would like to play along, or see some of the other challenges by Design team members, they are under the Monthly Contests section on the Scrapgal boards.
You have until September 30th, when one participant will be chosen randomly to win a prize from Scrapgal.
Happy September!

Blog Hop Mini Prize winner!

2011-08-31T06:54:00.000-07:00

...is Becky! If you email me at maryjo1997@gmail.com, Becky, I will get your prize out to you :)

Extra Layouts :)

2011-08-29T06:23:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share a few layouts I made recently that are technically design team assignments. But I did make this first layout with product from the Scrapgal store :)

I loved that KI Memories line and the title "Sweet Summer" kept popping into my head. And then I thought of these photos from the first few weeks after Erin was born! Those days when I just surrendered to new babyness and just relaxed and enjoyed being with her. Getting to know her. While Mike was off at work and Evan at school.

And this one was for pure fun! It's going in my All About Me album along with all kinds of layouts ranging from child birth to my favorite shoes to favorite places. I've put a lot of random layouts in there, but each one I think has a story that tells a little bit about who I am in different phases of my life. And it wasn't an intentional AAM album. It started off as an album to put those 8 1/2 layouts that didn't really have a home :)

If you would still like to participate in the Scrapgal blog hop (see post below) there is still time! And I have a little giveaway for one lucky reader :)

Scrapgal Blog Hop!

2011-08-26T06:31:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Scrapgal Blog Hop! If you are following the hop, you should be here from Michelle's
blog. If you want to start at the beginning, the Scrapgal blog is here!
My name is Mary Jo and today each design team member is going to have a challenge for you!

My last package came with this fabulous sheet of die-cut journal cards by Echo Park! I used one card on two of my layouts, but then had a ton of cards left over. In fact, I have a whole bucket of leftover journal cards from previous die-sheets sitting on my counter.
So I decided to use them to create a mini-album...

about a family brunch tradition we have every summer.

It was really simple to put together. A photo on one side, and journaling on the other. With a few stickers to embellish it here and there!

It came together really quickly and now we have a little reminder sitting in the mini-album basket in our living room :)

My challenge to you today, is to use multiple journal cards on a project!
It doesn't have to be a mini-album. Just a layout will do. Or any type of scrap project. But there has to be more than one!

Starting today! Friday Aug 26th, You will have 3 days to create *one* project that includes
each challenge from each Scrap Gal DT member on this blog hop!

Post your projects to the ScrapGal Facebook page for a chance to win...

this prize pack! Plus you have to more chances to win if you
1. Become a follower at the ScrapGal blog
2. Like ScrapGal on Facebook!

And just for leaving a comment on my blog today and becoming a follower, I will send one of you this little prize pack. Two of my favorite products in the scrap world!

Here's the blog hop roll in case you lose your way :)
ScrapGal
Heather
Marcie
Guest Designer Kimmie
Michelle
Me
Rita
Scrap Gal's Face Book Page!

Thanks for stopping by, and looking forward to seeing everyone's projects! :)
*ETA - I will announce a winner for my little prize pack on Wednesday :)

First Day of School

2011-08-25T08:34:00.000-07:00

Evan's first day of school was on Tuesday.

I can't believe he is in fourth grade now!

And is happy to have his cousin starting Kindergarten at the same school :) Erin jumped in the shot as I was quickly trying to get any kind of photos before they ran off. But I wanted to do it on the school playground because...

that is where we took his first day of Kindergarten photos a few years ago with daddy. Such a big difference! And that little baby is four now :) I feel a scrapbook page coming on :)

And speaking of scrapbooking, we are having a blog hop tomorrow for Scrapgal. If you love scrapbook challenges or just a chance to win prizes, I hope you will join in :)

Published! :)

2011-08-22T21:19:00.000-07:00

This layout was published in the October 2011 issue of This magazine on page 46! Scrapbooks Etc... is one of my favorite scrap magazines and I will always be grateful that they gave me my first opportunity to have one of my layouts appear in a scrapbook magazine :)

And Polly Maly also sent me an email with a cute little button for my blog that you see over there on the top right :)
It really is a good issue. I flipped through it tonight when I received my layout back with a complimentary issue of the magazine. I plan to give it to my mom since I am already a subscriber. So my actual issue should be here any day :)
I may just have to frame it ;)

Where Did It Go?

2011-08-15T07:25:00.000-07:00

Summer I mean! Seriously went by way to fast. And as much as I wanted it to be a relaxed summer, we were still pretty busy. Some highlights were...

our annual Mother's Day/Father's Day brunch with the grandparents. We take a family photo up there every year. And we love having special time with our parents to celebrate. We usually go at some point in the summer around Father's day.

A trip to Chicago to visit with cousins and see fun places like the Lego Discovery Center. Evan loved the miniature Chicago landscape.

Ummm...a surprise 40th birthday party thrown by my wonderful husband Mike! I had to get a picture with a few of my favorite women in the world. My mom, sister-in-law Regina, and good friend Suzy were gone by this point otherwise they would have been in this photo!! I just don't know what I would do sometimes without such a great group of women in my life. And yes, there were men there. Spouses and my father. :)

Saw U2 not once, but twice in July. Being this close to the stage was such a great feeling!

And so glad Evan was able to go with us! And so thankful to my parents who brought him down later in the day so he didn't have to sit in line with us! I was so hesitant at first about letting him go. Especially with the whole general admission, standing part. But he handled it beautifully!
And let's just say it was hot. Excessively hot! But that is not sweat on my shirt though. Just water from a little sprayer fan :) I look pretty wilted in this photo but at that point I didn't care. Just to excited!!

Had lots and lots of play dates with friends and cousins!

A special project by Evan going on this summer. Building a mini-city inspired by the one we say in Chicago. Those blocks are glued together with wood glue. A few lego structures in there. And miscellaneous bits and pieces from around the house. I think we have an architect in the making.

This girl! My niece who had a few sleepovers with us this summer. And each time she left, we really missed her. Such a sweetheart!!

As you saw in the post below, someone celebrated her fourth birthday! Lots of celebrating this year with two parties. One for family and one for school friends!

And posted this one just because. Love it!

As for blogging, I will be taking a week break here until the kids start school. I know it's been a little hit or miss this summer. Only two or three times a week. And not as much even here in August. I just want to relax and enjoy this last week of no school with them :) Then I am looking forward to getting back to a more structured routine. I think we are ready :)

And Then She Was Four!

2011-08-08T21:31:00.000-07:00

A little over a week ago, Erin turned four. We celebrated with family on her actual birthday.

Which was really nice. Just a simple party at home. With lots of cousins, grandparents, a few aunts and an uncle, and her godmother.

But what she really wanted, was a birthday party with friends at the "puppet show". A friend from school had her party there several months ago. And it was all Erin talked about for the longest time.

So last Saturday we invited a group of school and play group friends to the local puppet theater. An amazing place really that does really great parties :) It's been around since I was a little girl. I remember going there for field trips with the girl scout troop. And then later taking preschool students there on field trips. And now my little girl wanted a party there.
Evan really loved the hand puppets! And he put on a little show for Erin while we waited for guests to arrive.

These puppets are created by the owners. And I have to admit that I remember a few of them from when I was younger. They have really stood the test of time.

This bear one creeped me out a little at first. But looking back at the photos, he kind of won me over :)

Doug working his magic on stage. And let me just say, Doug is a riot! He has worked with some amazing artists and talent. And he really has a lot of stories to tell!

The birthday girl was given the choice of posing and holding one of the puppets. She chose the little girl mouse.

She really had a great time!

Even Evan had to admit it was fun. Although at first he thought it was going to be babyish. I caught him laughing and smiling a few times.

We had a Strawberry Shortcake cake, but Doug had a special surprise for Erin. A "Charlie the puppet" cupcake just for Erin.

It seriously was not my first choice as a venue for a birthday party. But I have to say, she had a blast and so did everyone else. Even the adults were saying how much fun it was. I would definitely recommend it to anyone :)
And Happy Birthday, my sweet girl!

* Flower Girl *

2011-08-03T06:13:00.000-07:00

I have a post up today on the
Scrapgal blog.

The design team is going to be doing a new feature in the upcoming months called "Product Showcase." Last month we had the clothespins which I used on this project. For August, we were challenged to use the crocheted trim and flower you see on my layout. The flower is misted to match the sash on Erin's dress :)

Now I know every mom thinks her "flower girl" is the cutest ever. But this is a layout for my daughter from my heart! I want her to know how much she is loved. Whether it is me telling her a zillion times a day. Or through a scrapbook page she can look back on someday :)
And that is why I love to scrapbook these little moments. In the photo above we were waiting in the hotel lobby for Mike and Evan to come down from our room. And I decided to snap a few shots of her! This was one of my favorites because it is just so her :)

August challenges have gone up at Scrapgal as well. You can find them on the Monthly Contests board. Projects linked up by August 31st, will be eligible for a grand prize :)

August Design Team Projects for Scrapgal!

2011-08-01T07:44:00.000-07:00

I can't believe August is here already!! Where is the summer going?
For Scrapgal this month, I chose to work with two fun summer lines from the store! Echo Park's Sweet Summertime
and a little bit of KI Memorie's Juicy Summer!

I don't typically go for cutesy styles, but I loved the bright fun colors of the Echo Park line. And I had received some fun stickers from Doodlebug's Mother Nature collection as an extra embellishment to work with because I loved the sunshine font you will see that I used on my next layout. This Watercolor layout started out with some misting of yellow and turquoise on the top and bottom corners. And then everything came together pretty quickly!

My next layout is my monthly challenge for the Scrapgal boards. I have the photo challenge this month. And my challenge is to add text to a photo. Whether it be a title or journaling. Digitally or with alphabet stickers, rub-on's or stamps :) You can find all the challenges here on the Monthly Challenges board.

My last project is a card using a mix of all three of the lines :) Plus some Cosmo Cricket mini alphabet stickers. I used a journal die-cut as the base for the rest of the design.

I will have a few extra projects to share this month as well. My Scrapgal blog post will go up on August 3rd. And we are having a blog hop on August 26th! Hope you can join us for that :)
Hope you are staying cool where you are? We are trying! :-)

Words of Wisdom Found on Pinterest :)

2011-07-29T06:51:00.000-07:00

I have found many great quotes and sayings on Pinterest that I have *pinned* there. Some I plan on using as inspiration for scrapbook pages. Others I just want as a daily reminder for my life.

Like this one. I've seen it before, but lately it really resonates with me. I'd like to think that I try to do all these things and more. But I know that I am not a perfect person! I fully embrace that. And am lucky to have good friends and people in my life who accept me for who I am :)

But that doesn't mean that I can't continue to try and be the best person I can be.

Especially as a role model to my children.

It's a lot to think about some days.

And then I came across this one pinned by Lisa Truesdell...

It's such a simple thought that has so much power! I have witnessed a lot of kindness recently that gives hope. But I have also been disheartened at a lot of things that I see on a daily basis. Whether it's in the news, the city, society in general, or people who choose to hurt rather than help. And I think to myself, if everyone could just keep this simple thought at the back of their head, life would, could be a much better place for so many.
So this is going to be my challenge to myself on a daily basis. "Above all else, be kind".
And hopefully I can help make the world a better place :)

Scrapping My Nephews :)

2011-07-26T22:04:00.000-07:00

It's my turn to post on the Scrapgal Blog this month, and I chose to do a tutorial on turning a piece of patterned paper into a misting mask! You can see the entire step by step explanation of the project there.
My finished layout uses product from the Heidi Swapp's Street Smarts line and Glitz Design rub-on's. These supplies made me think of some photos of my nephews I took recently :) I think this is the first layout that I have done about them in a while! But they are definitely layout worthy to me! They are amazing boys who make me very, very proud :)
Now that I have done this layout, I am seeing masking possibilities in all sorts of places. What is the most unusual thing you have ever used as a mask for misting, painting or stamping?

Tree Climbing at the Gardens!

2011-07-20T05:35:00.000-07:00

I went a little over this month and created five projects for Scrapgal.instead of the usual three. I just ended up having so many ideas that I wanted to scrap with the two lines Jenn sent me. And now I am sharing the last completed project. Although truthfully, I am working on a little mini with the scraps :)

The colors seemed to go so well with these photos of my son at the Botanical Gardens Forest Festival back in May. We had so many photos that I knew I wanted to do a two page layout to fit several on and keep them their current size to kind of tell the story. The little "And Then He Said" journal card seemed perfect as well to share some of his thoughts on the experience. Which he LOVED!

Plus, these cardstock stickers from the line came in handy once again! I loved that big tree sticker and knew it was going on this layout. But I also added several more. All product is from Scrap Within Reach, the Paper Boy line except for the alphabet stickers and tree rub-on's from Basic Grey. I also used the Bumpy Road punch from EK Success for the green paper at the bottom!
I also plan on using that extra mini album I am working on to store the extra photos for Evan :) I will leave spots open for him to journal in the book now or later!

Standing in the General Admission Line All Day Yesterday on a Hot, Hot Day...

2011-07-18T06:44:00.000-07:00

was so, so worth it!!!

to be this close to the Edge.

And Adam when he came to our side

And not to far from where Bono stood. I love this shot of the four of them playing together!
It was a GREAT show! It was so amazingly hot and they played one of the best shows I have been to in a long time! :)
Mike took over 700 photos with the DSLR that I want to go through, so I am sure I will share a few more this week. But I promise it won't be anywhere near 700 ;) And I am not editing a single one (see dude's bald head in photo above) With the DSLR he was able to get amazing shots.

Between the U2 concert and a surprise 40th party Mike threw me the night before, it was a great weekend! :)

In Honor of U2 Coming to Town Tomorrow Night...

2011-07-16T06:47:00.000-07:00

here is a layout I created for Scrapgal
this month about Evan's first U2 concert two years ago :)

The story is about how I think he became the biggest little U2 fan ever and his experience at the concert!
Looking forward to tomorrow!! :)

Photo Banner

2011-07-14T07:27:00.000-07:00

This month in my design package from Scrapgal, Jenn challenged us to create something using clothespins :)

She had also included this fun orange netting and the first thing that came to mind was "Banner". A photo banner to be precise

Since I was using die cut tags from the Street Smarts collection by Heidi Swapp, it was great to display these photos I had taken recently of my nephews with their skateboards.

I inked the edge of each die-cut and covered them with mod podge. The next step was to hot glue them to the clothespins. I twisted the netting a little at each spot where I wanted to place the clothespin and hot glued that as well! Quick, easy and simple :)

U2!

2011-07-11T07:46:00.000-07:00

So I don't like to post on-line about trips to much before we are going out of town, but this past week we were in Chicago visiting family and of course seeing U2 :-)

Evan went with us again and this time we were in the RED ZONE! A fabulous place to be if you are going to see U2 this tour. It's auction based and the area is sectioned off on each side of the outer stage. There is a smaller crowd in there then the general admission areas, so that was nice as well. We were in the RED ZONE in Ireland as well back in 2009 and loved it! We got there early so as you can see by the above photo, we got an excellent spot by the rail on Adam's side. That silver platform behind Mike and Evan there is the outer stage!!

Evan and I posing for the camera!

And Evan alone while we were waiting for Mike to come back from the car. The lens he originally had on the DSLR camera was to big. So they made him take it back. But they let him in with the smaller lens thank goodness :)

Bono coming towards us at one point...

and pausing to look down right at us (faint)! Seriously, he is right there!! :)

And Adam put on quite a show for our side. It was AMAZING! :)

Evan thought so, too! He couldn't believe how close they were. And I have to admit, since I have been this close several times, I think I spent more time watching Evan's reaction than the actual stage :) I will also say that once you have been this close, it's kind of hard to be farther back.

And how fun was it that a crew member gave Evan and another little boy down further from us an official band set list! That is getting framed along with some photos and our tickets!

A shot of the big screen and the main stage.

I have to say U2 fans are incredible! Everyone on our side was so friendly! Especially to Evan. When he started to crash a bit not to long before the band came on, I went and sat with him at some seats set up at the back of the zone area. But right before the band came on, he jumped up and ran back to the railing. Everyone in our area was cheering for him!
We also spent some time chatting with two sisters who were behind us. One was eight months pregnant, but she handled it so well. I think I would have been fainting with the crowd, the heat at the beginning and just standing so long being eight months pregnant.
I know. I did it back when I was pregnant with Evan, but we had seats then thank goodness. I think that is the first time I ever sat through half of a U2 show :)
Anyway, great night and great concert as usual! One we won't be forgetting any time soon :)

Turning 40 and a New Month at Scrapgal!

2011-07-01T06:11:00.000-07:00

I did celebrate my 40th birthday on Wednesday. And I did have jury duty that day. But it all turned out fine :)
No big fanfare. And instead of doing a list of 40 things to do when I am 40, I am thinking of working on another type of list. Forty amazing things I have done in my lifetime! Because really, I am feeling like celebrating accomplishments rather than what I haven't done :) :) I may share it soon.

In other news, my kit this month from Scrapgal contained a fun collection from "Scrap Within Reach" called Paperboy! But I discovered it works just fine for a "girly" layout :)

I used three patterned papers, including one for the background. Plus the die-cut stickers for this layout. The pleated ribbon is by Pink Paislee. And I used alphabet stickers from American Crafts, Basic Grey and October Afternoon, with a little bit of Studio Calico white mist on the background for a "paint" feel as well.

Here is the sticker sheet. Which I am also using for a layout about Evan's tree climbing expedition. And two of the patterned papers.

I used the first one for my background paper.

And this one to create embellishments and paper strips for journaling :)
I am also using this layout for my challenge over at Scrapgal this month - Use buttons and trim/ribbon on a project.

I will be posting a few more projects throughout the month using this line and another "skateboard" line I received by Heidi Swapp. Can't wait for my nephews to see those projects as they love skateboarding, and I had some photos I took of them at Evan's birthday party :)

And am also really excited that the new members joining the Scrapgal Design Team are being announced today! :)

Rainy Monday

2011-06-27T06:26:00.000-07:00

So it's another rainy summer day! Let's just say that the amount of rain we have had this summer has been...a lot. And after a bit of a blog break though, I am ready to post today :)

July is coming up, and so I placed an order for some photos for scrapping. Eighty-eight prints to be exact! Here are a few photos you will probably see on upcoming layouts...

Painting Erin's room this past February.

Evan's first U2 concert with us back in September 2009. He is such a big, little U2 fan and I swear we didn't brainwash him (lol). I attribute it to the fact that he went to two U2 concerts when I was pregnant with him :)

I have quite a few photos from the Botanical garden including this one of Erin and the duck. See his little head poking up :)

My latest kit from Scrapgal had some cool product from Heidi Swapp with a skateboard theme. I guess this photo of my nephews I took last month will come in handy! I have a few from in action that day actually that I am going to pick from, but this is one of my favorites.

And lots of photos to choose from of Evan when he tried tree climbing at the Botanical Gardens Tree Festival! The Botanical Garden photos will go great with the other line that was sent to me from Scrapgal.
So just a peek of what I will be up to in the next week or so. What scrap plans do you have coming up?

I'm finding summer is pretty busy despite the rain. We aren't rushing, but staying busy doing things at our own pace. Which is nice :)

Sketch Challenge with Crate Paper

2011-06-21T06:36:00.000-07:00

So I am still going strong with my "do one scrapbook challenge a week in June" plan :) This week's challenge came from the Crate paper blog seen on this post.
Emily created a sketch and I decided to give it a try.

and came up with this layout. I changed it up quite a bit for my needs though. This is a layout I've been doing for a while. And I used some older photos from last June. So Erin is quite a bit bigger now with longer hair, but just as curly ;)

Here is the actual sketch. I turned it on it's side and basically turned the long strip into a photo block. Still attaching my title to it and using cut-out's from a great patterned paper for my visual triangle. Really glad I took this challenge :) The challenge is still open until June 26th if you want to play along. And if you want, you can post a link of your layout to the comment section in that blog post.

Also, the design team call is still on at Scrapgal.
That is also going on until June 26th. We've had quite an influx of new scrappers at the boards which is fun to see. And I'm looking forward to seeing who will be joining us on the team!

As for scrapbook challenges, I am going to try to do one more this week! Just need to find the right one :)

Fun News!

2011-06-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

Doing this layout...

won me a $5 gift card over at Studio Calico.
The winners were posted here
So fun to see my name there this morning.
And definitely encourages me to try and keep up with my personal goal of doing one challenge per week :)

Sketch Challenge with October Afternoon

2011-06-15T05:51:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday, October Afternoon had a sketch challenge on their blog that I was actually able to complete! Two challenges in one month so far is pretty good for me these days!

Here is the sketch by Wilna Furstenberg...

And here is my take. I used Studio Calico mist to create a strip down the center to divide my layout into three's and follow the sketch design. But I decided to work at an angle instead of straight down. And I tried to use as much October Afternoon product as I could since it was their challenge. So patterned paper, label and word stickers, and the pink letter stickers are October Afternoon. The "welcome" title sticker is from American Crafts. Not quite sure where I got the manilla tag from, but it has been in my scrap collection for a while.
Going to try and get another challenge done this week. I'm hoping to do one a week this summer. But we'll see how that goes! :)

Today's the Day!

2011-06-11T08:07:00.000-07:00

There is a fun mini-crop going on today at Scrapgal
Lots of challenges and prizes to celebrate the reopening of the store. It officially starts at 10am, but a few of the challenges are up already. You can see them on the boards here
on the crop forum!

My first challenge is a number journaling challenge. Simply to number your photos and then do a list with a short explanation of each photo.
Another thing I wanted to point out about my layout, is that the lined circle paper on the right came from a Jenni Bowlin mini-album. I took it apart to use the cardboard circle covers for stencils in the future and the pages for journaling! I LOVE repurposing mini-albums and stretching out their use.

I also gave an example of how it doesn't have to be a two pager. I created this one page layout a while ago using the same journal method :)

The deadline for the challenges, isn't until Monday, June 13th at midnight. Winners will be chosen on Tuesday morning to win some great prizes like the three you see here! The big Cosmo Cricket pack is for the "Queen of the Crop" winner :)

Mini-crop and Design Team Call at Scrapgal!

2011-06-10T04:42:00.000-07:00

Scrapgal is having a mini crop tomorrow, June 11th!
There will be challenges, games and prizes :)
Hope you can come and join us to check out the newly reopened store!

And in other big news, Scrapgal is having a design team call! You can check out the details here!
Come on by the boards and introduce yourself. We would love to get to know you! Everyone is so friendly :)

Studio Calico Challenge!

2011-06-07T16:40:00.000-07:00

So there was a great challenge up on the Studio Blog yesterday! I don't usually have time for a lot of challenges these days, but this one was to good to resist! Studio Calico Weekly Challenge

Here is the inspiration piece that Nicole Samuels posted for the challenge to interpret as you wish. I went with a color combo challenge. I love the colors!!

And here is what I came up with for my layout. I have been wanting to use a lot more product in my stash. And when I saw that photo of Evan helping Erin across the stream, I remembered that little quote card that came in a prize pack with My Mind's Eye product in it that I won over a year or so ago! The papers had the perfect colors :) So this was a good challenge for me :)
If you want to play along, the end date is June 13th.

Using Wallet Sized School Photos in a Matchbook Mini-album

2011-06-03T05:05:00.000-07:00

My blog post should be going up on the
the Scrapgal blog today. But I always like to share them here as well!

I had the most darling little Matchbook Chipboard Mini-Album in my kit from Jenn at Scrapgal this month. But I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with it.
Until I was sorting through Evan's school photo packets that I have been collecting and storing in my school album kit bag.

And I decided to make a small mini-album that I could carry in my purse. The mini is only about 2 1/2 inches by 2 inches, so the wallet size photos are perfect. I used papers from the My Mind's Eye "Lil' Robots" collection to cover the album, mini alphabet stickers from My Little Shoebox, and a small frame stamp by Studio Calico.

So the wallet size photos are on one side of the page...

and his grade is on the back!
Now if someone could please tell me where his second grade photo packet is, it would be perfect!
Actually, the mini-album only came with three pages inside, but I realized that I could easily make more from sheets of chipboard and using a hole punch. And when I find his second grade photos, that is what I plan on doing :)

June Design Team Project!

2011-06-01T06:50:00.000-07:00

Woo, Hoo! The Scrapgal site is up and running again :) Just in time for June projects!

My first one I am showing this month is just a 12x12 layout "Time for Planting" using the Bo Bunny Delilah line. It's more of an autumn type line, but the colors worked so well with these photos I took of the kids "helping" Mike with some spring planting. And I loved the pink ruffle flowers from Maya Road that came in my kit as well. Except for the flowers and the American Crafts alphabet letters spelling planting, everything is from Bo Bunny!
I used patterned papers to mat my photos and journal box. And the background paper I used comes with those cool paint effects. Very simple and easy! I used the sticker sheet which comes with an alphabet set, borders and shape stickers to embellish my page and create the title. Made things very nice and simple!

I'll share my other projects in the upcoming month! Including a mini-album for my Scrapgal blog post on Friday :)

Scraplift Tuesday at Scrapgal! :)

2011-05-31T06:24:00.000-07:00

This month at Scrapgal Heather, aka, "Scrappin in AK" was our guest DT memeber. Since the shop was closed for inventory and reorganizing, she has had her amazing creations featured on the blog and Facebook page! Also, in honor of her, the ScrapGal DT has finished out the month of May by picking one Heather's layouts to scraplift!

I picked this one because I loved her amazing design!

And here is my layout!

Basically just kept everything the same with different colors and using Basic Grey :) Why mess with a good design when it was perfect already!
To see the rest of the design teams lifts of Heather's layouts, you can go to the Scrapgal Blog

And don't forget that tomorrow is the store and boards grand re-opening! Looking forward to seeing what is in the works :)

Some Pinterest Inspiration and Big News for Scrapgal!

2011-05-27T05:13:00.000-07:00

I really love Pinterest! And I have to say that I have been pretty good about not getting addicted :) I just check in for a few minutes not even every day. But I have found some great inspiration there so far!!
Today I just wanted to share a few things from my "Signs I Love" board. It's kind of turned into a quotes I love board as well :)

I love anything vintage or retro and this sign is so cool! I love Disneyworld and I love Space Mountain! I also thought it went cool with the theme at Studio Calico this month! The June kit is called Paper Moon and the kits this month have a lot of the Rocket Age collection by October Afternoon which also has a retro look. Fun!

This Family Rules sign is a good reminder! And I love the paper strips effect. I think that is going to show up on a scrap page.

I love typed text on tags and I love this Swedish proverb!

I think Will Smith is brilliant! And I think this quote is going to end up on a personal scrapbook page for me :)

Amazing quote that I have found to be true. And even better with that little strip of tape. More journal ideas for scrapbook pages!

As Jenn announced on Facebook, Scrapgal is going to be back on-line June 1st no matter what!! Inventory took a lot longer than she thought, but I am just happy that the site will be back :) A crop and lots of prizes and challenges will help to kick things off in June!

So now going to prepare for Evan's last day of third grade! I can't believe it's here!! But we have some great plans for the summer with lots of relaxing down time at the pool and Six Flags. Plus a Lego stop animation camp that he is very excited about. And seeing u2 not once, but twice in July! Yes, Evan is going with us both times and is super excited :)

Erin will not be in on the concerts (to young). But don't worry, she is going to have a great summer as well :)

My Last Scrapgal Layout for the Month of May!

2011-05-25T05:12:00.000-07:00

Remember this die-cut sheet from the My Mind's Eye "Lil' Robots" line that I used to make...

these cards?

Well I used it on this layout as well! In fact this layout uses mostly die-cuts from that sheet in addition to two sheets of patterned paper from the same line, Thickers from American Crafts and the tiny alphabet from Cosmo Cricket for the date! Very helpful in putting together a quick and easy layout!

Having trouble getting good photos lately with all the clouds and rain, but I got it! How is the weather where you are?

It Was a Big Day :)

2011-05-17T08:13:00.000-07:00

May 1st was a pretty busy day for us! First, Erin had her mini-olympics in the morning. She was pretty excited to go :) I'm only going to post a few of the better photos since it was hard getting good shots from where we were sitting. But they actually do rotations. They had three rotations where they performed their activities for us.

Here she is coming out in the procession with one of the teacher's. You can see her looking for us :)

Something she has been working hard at this year - rope climbing! I am amazed at how these little kids are able to develop their upper body strength so quickely!

Doing her backwards roll

with a "ta da"! I love the happy smile on her teacher's face. They really have some great teachers working with the younger children.

The balance beam.

And checking out her medal at the end! We were so proud of her! And she was completely exhausted by the end of the day.
After the olympics, we headed over to the Botanical Gardens for the Treehouse Festival.
I will have photos of that experience tomorrow! That was Evan's time to shine :)

Quick and Easy Card Sets!

2011-05-16T07:57:00.000-07:00

For my May blog post at Scrapgal (which will hopefully be up and running again soon!), I wanted to show you how to make some cards when you are in a time crunch!

It's as simple as using a die-cut sheet...

and a few matching papers. I used the Lil' Robots line by My Mind's Eye.

I cut apart a few different papers to use as backgrounds. Used several die-cuts, and fussy cut a few pieces from the patterned paper. A few "thanks" rub-on's from Pebbles Inc. and I had a hand made Thank You card set in less than 15 minutes. You could do more depending on how much time you have. I set myself a limit of 15 minutes and was able to complete four! Just think what you could do in 30 minutes or an hour :)

As for the rest of the die-cuts, you will see a few of them show up in a future layout coming soon!

Scrapgal Layout for the Month of May

2011-05-12T06:46:00.000-07:00

That was a nice little blogging break for a week :) May is so busy for us with the end of the school year and Evan's birthday. Plus there are always a ton of family events in May for some reason.

Anyway, for my second project in May I decided to go photo free on my layout this month. I was inspired by these cute little chipboard frames by Maya Road that I received in my kit and knew I wanted to do a layout about the music that I am loving right now.

I used the white mist by Studio Calico to color each frame. Then I chose five of the most played songs on my ipod right now and gave each a home behind one of those frames. Except the frames and the mini alphabet stickers by Making Memories, most of the other product on this layout is by American Crafts. Including the patterned paper.
On the journal sticker, I listed a few of the other bands that I am listening to a lot these days as well :) The music notes were hand drawn by me!All of the fun little pink goodies (buttons and brads) that came in my kit found their way onto this layout as well.
And I was so happy to find the little cassette tape flair by AC in my stash because it worked perfectly!
What's playing on your ipod? :)

Cutest Little Candy Store Ever!

2011-05-04T06:34:00.000-07:00

Last Friday was a beautiful day! Rare here lately with all the rain and extremely weird weather we have had since January.

So Erin and I decided to head to a different playground than our usual hangout. And what did some smart person put in next door to this playground.

You got it! A candy store :)

It's tiny, but oh so cute!

And I love the colors and decorations :)
Actually some pretty good scrapbook inspiration there ;)
Thankfully none of the candy really appealed to me. I am trying to cut as much sugar out of my diet as I possibly can!
But Erin picked up a little something for her and big brother Evan who was at school :)
So thankful for little fun surprises on a beautiful day!

2011-05-02T05:10:00.000-07:00

My first design team project for May is up over on the Scrapgal blog.
This month I created a mini-album using the canvas album from Maya Road.

I only used two pieces for the covers and then created my own pages for the inside.The canvas material made me think of the fun fabric paper from the American Crafts Dear Lizzy line that has clothes hanging on a tree. I cut part of it out to use for a cover on my "Sweet Baby Fashions" mini.
Two of the dresses on the cover are chipboard from the same line. Each page of the album is dedicated to a favorite outfit Erin wore when she was a baby. I embellished the album with a variety of fun pieces to coordinate - like buttons, journal spots butterflies, bling and flowers because many of the outfits had flower designs :) Here are the pages...

Thanks for looking!

And I can't ignore the big news in our country and around the world today. This is a note I put up on Facebook.

"I am kind of in shock over the news that Bin Laden is dead. What he planned for our country was a terrible thing and so hateful. A tragedy that many families are still suffering for. Whether they lost loved ones on a plane or building that day or were in the military and have lost their life since. And seeing people cheering on tv that he is dead makes me feel sad in a way. I think it sends a message to other parts of the world. A message similar to the one that made me heartsick when 9/11 happened when there were parades and people throwing candy in the streets celebrating the deaths of so many Americans. I know he is only one man who is responsible for an unspeakable evil. And I know we lost thousands of lives on 9/11. And I'm truly not sorry he is gone. But like said I think we have to be careful what kind of message we are sending to the rest of the world."

I just want to say that I 100% support our military and the families who lost loved ones. I think this tragedy has had a resounding impact on our country and did more damage than a lot of people realize. Especially with our economy the way it is right now. I'm also hoping that maybe this will give Americans a little hope. But not in a vengeful, hateful way. Peace to all.

A Royal Wedding

2011-04-29T06:09:00.000-07:00

(Photo of course not taken by me)

I really was not going to get caught up in all of the Royal Wedding stuff. But it's kind of hard not to :) I watched a special or two on t.v. and read a book about their courtship.

I didn't get up at 4am to watch live, but did record it on my DVR.

Although I was awake at 5:45 am this morning anyway, so decided to watch a bit live.

Evan's teacher had been talking about it at school. Being eight, almost nine, he doesn't really get it. But did want to watch a little with me this morning. I think to see what all the hype was about.

Some of my favorite lines from him this morning:

"Mom, they're wearing suits!"

"Mom, they have cars!"

He thought everything would be more "old time" as he put it.

It was fun talking to him about it and hearing his perspective :)

As for me, seeing her walk in church, hearing the vows, seeing the carriage ride and this kiss is enough for me. I hope they have a wonderful and happy marriage. :)

Children's Books

2011-04-25T05:25:00.000-07:00

Anyone who knows me and my early childhood education background, knows how much I love children's books! And sadly lately, I've found a lack of really good quality children's books in the book stores or at the library.
I don't expect every book we read, to be perfect and entertaining. But at least give me some interesting, attractive illustrations. Or a story that doesn't talk about farting or Spongebob or completely bizarre topics that make no sense. It's almost as if they are dumbing down books for children these days because they think that a certain type of story or humor will sell!

I have to say though, our last two trip to the library was a success :)

This book tells the "story" about Jane Goodall's formative years and what led her to work with animals in the jungles. Talk about your cute, sweet illustrations! I love her little stuffed monkey that she takes everywhere. And I love the message to children. When you grow up, you can be what you want to be. You can follow your dreams :)

This book is just fun! :) For any exhausted parent of a newborn baby, you will get a laugh. I know I did! Funny illustrations with some very truthful statements about this boss baby and you have a book that is fun to read! I'm so glad we found this one, too.

If you have any good recommendations for children's books, please share! :)

Scrapping for Fun!

2011-04-22T06:03:00.000-07:00

I'm in the process of decluttering and organizing all my scrap stuff. This is a huge project because it includes all scrap product, photos that haven't been organized into boxes (and redoing some photo boxes), my inspiration binder, and my scrap office arrangement and the closet that holds the stuff that doesn't fit in my small office! I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by it, but am slowly getting there.
To get to my scrap office, you now have to walk through Erin's room. And the closet in there needs major reorganizing as I want to move her clothes and toys in there. It's a huge walk-in closet with lots of space. So I do want to keep one small area for some scrap product like my messy supply cart. The one that holds the paints, mists, etc...
In the process, I am taking apart the last few Studio Calico kits I have. Only two left now after finishing Documentary. I finally literally used this one to bits with this layout...

I was inspired by a layout Steph H. had in her DT gallery. The title and using the tickets for a mat. The journaling talks about how I would follow Mike anywhere. Even to the Cliffs of Mohr in Ireland! This layout is going in my personal album from our trip to Ireland :)

And these cards are created using the sketch on Day 3 from Kelly Purkey's Sketch 3 class. I loved this sketch and decided to make two cards when I found that little You & Me sticker from the October Afternoon Thrift Shop line that went with the papers :)
Haven't had a lot of time to scrap lately and need to work on my Design Team projects for Scrapgal in May.
So those will probably be the next I share :)

Pinwheel Tutorial for Scrapgal!

2011-04-20T06:08:00.000-07:00

My pinwheel tutorial should be up on the Scrapgal blog today, but I am going to share it with you here as well :) I used my pinwheels to create flowers for my layout. Ribbons for my stems and Doodlebug polka dot glitter cardstock for the the stem leaves :). The patterned paper is all by American Crafts. As are the large letter stickers.

I saw a tutorial in Scrapbooks Etc...this month on how to make pinwheels to put on display and thought they would make a great addition to a scrapbook page :)

1. You first need to cut your paper into an even square. My pinwheels on my end layout are 4x4 and 3x3. And you need to use double sided paper because both sides will be showing :)
Then use a ruler to draw a large "X" in the center on the back side.

Using scissors, you should cut a line almost up to the center leaving about a 1/2 inch before you reach the center point.

3. Punch a small hole in every other corner.

4. Begin folding in each corner with the punched hole...

until all the punched hole points meet at the center.

5. Then fasten with a brad :)

A great way to use leftover scraps of double sided scrapbook paper :)

Reading and To Be Read

2011-04-14T05:34:00.000-07:00

Reading

This one on my own. Once I got past the slow start in the beginning, I started to enjoy it! I am not a big Jane Austen fan. Shocking I know (lol) The only period book that I love is Jane Eyre. I could read that one over and over again. And I have. But Jane Austen's books kind of tire me out. This one is not so complicated as far as the language. And apparently has a twist on the original Mansfield Park. I have never read it.

But truthfully, I think I am definitely going to give it a try now that I have read Murder at Mansfield Park. I'm curious in how the characters are different from that book.

Reading this one with Evan at bed time. He is really loving this series right now. It's the third time I have read this book, but it's fun seeing his reactions to the series for the first time. And his endless questions about what is going to happen are getting harder and harder to deflect.

To Be Read

Looking forward to this one. I don't know that much about it, but it seemed intriguing. Especially that cover! I love books with great covers :)

Still looking forward to this one.

And the reviews weren't so great on Janet E.'s book, but since I've read a lot of her other books, I thought I'd give it a try. I've been known to start a book and not finish it, so this could be one of them. We'll see :)

What are you reading right now?
Any good recommendations?

Park Photos and a Layout

2011-04-12T05:11:00.000-07:00

About a week ago I took my camera with the zoom lens across the street to the park just to play around with it. And as you can see by my description of "zoom lens", I am not a pro at this. I have no idea what kind of lens it is. I just know it's the one that takes really cool close ups. Mike is the one who knows all the technical stuff!
One of these days I *will* take a camera class. Although, I have definitely learned a lot the past few years.
Anyway,
We are really lucky to have a great park right across the street from our house. With two playgrounds and a splash fountain. Lots of historical pavillions and just really pretty areas. Everyone teases us about what a great "front yard" we have :)

My first favorite shot was of Erin.

It amazes me how much fun the kids have in the park. First we played baseball for a little bit. And then Erin wanted to just check out the trees, while Evan was running around collecting sticks.

Then Erin had to get in on the stick collecting.

So Evan could build this. My artist son entitled his wood sculpture "the stick dancer". Seriously this kid loves art so much and creating and building things out of legos and any kind of construction material he can get his hands on. He goes back and forth saying he wants to be an architect or a "lego builder" when he grows up. And by lego builder, he means those lucky guys who get to work with legos for a living :)

And then daddy was back from his run around the park. Yep, it's a good place to exercise, too! Very peaceful and pretty. We use this park a lot, can you tell :)

And finally a layout I made for Kelly Purkey's Sketch 3 class. This one was from day 3. And the photos are from a Sunday we went to see our nephew in a rowing meet. A totally different park, but just as pretty and with a lake. I also made a card to go with the sketch but haven't taken a photo yet.
So far it's been a great class with four days of sketches for inspiration.
But I knew it would be :)

A Book and a Layout about Duran Duran

2011-04-08T07:03:00.000-07:00

So I've been reading this book. I requested it from the library just because of the title. I'll admit it :) Duran Duran was my favorite band until I discovered U2 in 1987. And then they quickly took a back seat. But I've always had a special place in my heart for them.
As for the book. It's ok, but has kind of lost me. Written by a music journalist, it's a little to jumbled and rambling. I like the premise to an extent. Using his favorite songs from the 80's to talk about how they related to his life. But after a few chapters, I just didn't care anymore. I did read the last chapter since it was of course a song by Duran Duran. I'd be interested to know what others thought of this book.

It did make me think of this layout I made for an on-line crop a year or so ago at Scrap Diner which is no longer open :( All the challenges had to do with music. And I don't specifically remember the challenge for this layout, but I had fun making it!
For the journaling, I just made different statements about the band and what I remember. My favorite being that my bedroom, that I had to share with my poor sister, was literally wallpapered in photos and posters of the band!
"I Was a Teenage Duranie" I really was :)
And the fact that this band is still around is pretty amazing to me. My mom said they would never last (lol)

Story Time!

2011-04-06T06:44:00.000-07:00

I love that they offer free scrapbook classes over at 2p's . I've done layouts from a few of them off and on since they started offering them last year. This is a layout I did from Nichol's Stamp Class . For the month of April we were encouraged to use stamped journaling. Whether that be journal spots, stamped words and phrases or images. I stamped journal spots, the title and images. She also suggested using colorful inks which to me is better than using black all the time :) I pretty much just used her layout as a sketch. Especially the top. I changed the bottom a little bit though to fit my needs.

Also, the Scrapgal website will be closed for the next few weeks as they try to work on the new site. There have been a lot of issues and glitches and Jenn just wants to get it taken care of once and for all. It will be great once it's back running! In the meantime, the blog will still be open as will their Facebook page!

Blog Hop Winner and the Rest of My April Projects!

2011-04-04T06:15:00.001-07:00

Here are the rest of my projects for the month of April using American Crafts :)

I decided to do a 12x12 layout for this one. I lightly misted the yellow side of a sheet of American Crafts paper from the City Park line (Gryffn Park) using Tattered Angels Gingerbread Glimmer mist. I wanted it to have a muddy effect. My title was created using American Crafts stickers, thicker alphabet and Cosmo Cricket mini alphas. Same for the cloud sticker with Evan's name. The chipboard accents are American Crafts as well.

My second layout is 8 1/2 x 11 because I wanted to just highlight one photo. Some pretty yellow flowers from a flower box in our backyard. For the strips at the top and bottom of each page, I used American Crafts patterned paper from the City Park line (Liberty Grove) and Fabric Paper from the Dear Lizzy's Spring line (Snapdragon Soiree). I also used an American Crafts chipboard frame and Dear Lizzy rub-on's. The flower embellishment is Sassafras Lass. And the memo page I used to type my journaling on is from Making Memories.

I did a two pager this month! When I saw the October Afternoon picnic flashcard in my kit of supplies, I knew exactly which photos I wanted to use :) Since the other flash card didn't really fit the theme, I turned it around and used it for my journaling. Decorated with a button strip, some trim, a tree cut from AC patterned paper and a tree sticker and label, I had a home for my story. I also matted both flashcards on AC patterned paper from the blue skies line. I hand cut the cloud and kite from some more AC patterned paper and my title was complete.

And the news you are all waiting for! The winner of the American Crafts prize pack is:

Arla Mo!

Scrap supplies are definitely one of my top reasons to scrap! Love your mini - very cute!

April 1, 2011 3:27 PM

Please email me at MaryJo1997@gmail.com with your address and I will send out your prize pack ASAP :)

Scrapgal Blog Hop!

2011-03-31T14:37:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Scrapgal Blog Hop for April! Our manufacturer of the month is American Crafts and our theme is "Feeling Crafty"! :)We wanted to share with you our challenges for the month of April!

And just for leaving a comment on my blog today, you will be put into a drawing to win this American Crafts RAK which includes two sets of alphabet rub-on's, one Remarks alphabet sticker in white and five packages of Thickers.

I did four projects for the month of April. And since our theme is "Feeling Crafty", I decided to do a mini album on why I Love to Scrap!

It is also the technique challenge for the month. Use your ink pads for something besides stamps. I used a Maya Roads chipboard mini album and the entire cover is colored using my Color Box pigment brush pad in Glacier Ice. I also used the ink pad to ink the edges of each chipboard page after I had covered it with white paper on one side and American Crafts patterned paper on the back. The gem stone borders on the front are by Glitz.

You can find all the challenges for the month of April on the message boards here

Just look in the monthly contest forum! And if you participate in the challenges and link your project on the challenge threads, you will be eligible for a Scrapgal gift card at the end of the month!

Each page contains one reason why I love to scrap using American Crafts label stickers and mini alphas by My Little Shoebox and Cosmo Cricket.

Then on the back of each page I went into more detail about each reason :)

Yes, one of the reasons I put down was scrap supplies. And if you are a die hard scrapper like me, you will totally understand why I chose that :)

I kept it pretty simple since the album isn't very big.

Scrapbooking has been such a fun and relaxing hobby for me that I can't imagine not being able to do it!

Thanks for coming by the blog today! In addition to a chance at winning my personal blog prize, if you visit the other girls blogs for a chance at more RAKS and finally the Scrapgal blog to leave a comment, you will be entered to win the prize pack you see above! You have until midnight April 3rd to finish the blog hop,
we will announce the winners on Monday so don't forget to check back on all the blogs!
In case you started with me, the order of the blog hop is:

Rita
Stacey
Arlene
Myself
Mette
Scrapgal Blog

See you on Monday for the winner and the rest of my April projects! :)

Ireland Calling

2011-03-25T11:56:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it will be two years in July since Mike and I went to Ireland.
I find myself thinking about that trip a lot. Especially on days like this.When the weather is so yucky.
And I feel completely overwhelmed by to do lists.

I think there is something almost magical about Ireland at times.
Where I just can't quite get it out of my mind.
I personally found it so peaceful and beautiful there in places.
I loved all the walking we were able to do in Dublin.
I loved the countryside.
And how old places were.
I loved all the rainbows we really did see :)
And how friendly the people were.

I hope to be able to take the kids there someday.
And if not with us.
I at least hope they can make a trip on their own.
I have lots of photos sitting here from our trip that I want to scrapbook so badly.
But I'm afraid I won't do them justice :)
I've done a few layouts already.
But those were personal ones.
About my thoughts and feelings on the trip and will go in an album I am creating just for me.
But I do want to put together another album for Mike and I to share.

We'll see.
But for now. Let me just say that I miss Ireland.

Happy Weekend :)

2011-03-21T07:03:00.000-07:00

Can I just say what a great weekend it was? :)
It's always nice to be able to say that.
My mom picked up the kids on Friday afternoon to take them overnight.
They had lots of fun watching movies and going to the circus on Saturday.
Mike and I were able to just relax and have some together alone.

Then Saturday, I went to the local scrapbook store, met Barb and Becky, and scrapbooked for nine hours.
It may seem a lot, but it went by way to fast!
I did manage to get most of my Scrapgal Design team projects done :)
So I'll be able to post those on April 1st.

Sunday was a beautiful day here!
Originally the kids were going to be at my parents still in the morning. But since we changed their over night day to Friday instead of Saturday, we were all together.
We went to a local park that has a small "lake" and a playground and had lunch.
I think it's great when we can all just relax and be together.
Not feeling rushed or crazy.
And for dinner we had grilled burgers, grilled asparagus, mac and cheese and cantaloupe.
Being able to eat outside on the patio was the best part of all.
The first day of spring actually felt like Spring. :)
I love happy weekends!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T05:30:00.000-07:00

May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun

and find your shoulder to light on.

To bring you luck, happiness and riches

today, tomorrow and beyond

- An Irish Blessing-

And my favorite layout so far that I created using a Sunday sketch about our trip to Ireland :)

One Year Ago

2011-03-14T07:13:00.000-07:00

1. Erin had her first visit to the dentist for a check-up. She was still two (not turning three until July 31st) And she really did a great job.

2. I don't remember what the weather was like one year ago, but today it is snowing here :-O
And here I was all ready for Spring to start. But this Thursday, St. Pat's Day, is supposed to be sunny and in the 70's. That's Midwest weather for you!

3. I weighed the exact same as I do today. But I've been making little changes since January of this year. Healthier, life changes. Exercising 4-6 times a week without fail. Adding more antioxidants to my diet. Eliminating more junk from my diet. And just watching what I eat period! Plus trying to get at least 7 hours of sleep at night as long as little ones don't wake me up : )

4. I had yet to be published in a Scrapbook magazine. A goal that I had sporadically pursued off and on over the years. I just wanted to see one of my layouts in a magazine : ) And I now one of my layouts is going to be published in Scrapbooks Etc... The October issue! Very excited about that!

And speaking of scrapbooking - Scrapgal's monthly challenges are still going on here The boards were down for a few days. Jenn has a brand new site that is still getting some tweaking, but we are back live :)
The manufacturer of the month is Basic Grey! I hosted the sketch challenge this month. But there are also challenges in for journaling, photos, altered objects and more. Come play along if you like challenges and would love a chance to win a cyber gift card to the store!

My Scrapgal Tutorial: Using Homemade Flower Stencils

2011-03-09T05:29:00.000-08:00

*As seen over on the Scrapgal blog today :)
I actually made these flower stencils out of chipboard a few years back when I taught a class on adding a variety of flowers to your layouts. I find they come in handy quite often whenever I want to craft a floral embellishment that goes perfectly with the papers I am using on a layout.

I have three different sizes that I literally had drawn and hand cut as you see in the photo above. Sometimes I use them to layer each other or just alone. For my layout I used the middle size and smaller flowers.

I chose the patterned papers I wanted to use, flipped it over and traced my flowers. I then cut them out by hand.

Two flowers ready to be embellished.

I decided to go simple with a Sassafras Lass button embellishment already stitched on. And a regular button tied with baker's twine.

Then added them to my layout! Simple :)

March Design Team Gallery Going Up at Scrapgal!

2011-03-01T08:10:00.000-08:00

The Manufacturer of the month for Scrapgal
is Basic Grey. I was given the Lemonade line with a little bit of Junebug to work with. The theme they are using this month is "Back to the Basics".

My first project is a card. Which is pretty basic :) I actually took one of the birds from a Maya Road chipboard album and covered it with BG patterned paper. I painted the wing with some acrylic paint. I was out of pink, so I actually had to do some mixing of red and white :) The eye is a chipboard flower from the June bug line with some bling. The flower sticker is Basic Grey and the alphabet stickers are My Little Shoebox.

I loved doing this layout. A comparison of how much Erin had changed between these two photos. The bottom one taken in January of 2009 when she was 18 months old and I discovered she could climb onto my scrapbook counter :-O The top photo I will admit is staged and taken in June of 2010. Almost 18 months later, right before she turned three. She knows better than to do that now. But when we were looking through photos and saw that one of her at 18 months, I had her get up there for a photo with me right there :)
All product is Basic Grey except the letter stickers. The large vinyl ones are American Crafts. The small blue are Cosmo Cricket, and the small pink My Little Shoebox.

I am in charge of the sketch challenge for March. And let's just say, it to is very basic. This is my first time creating a sketch from scratch ever! :)

And this is the layout to go with it. Lots of Basic Grey Lemonade, except the American Crafts green tulle, and the October Afternoon letter stickers. Sorry for the uneven photo. I just couldn't get that photo on the right to look straight, but it is in real life :)

You can see the rest of the Design Team's work here in the DT manufacturer of the month album.
And the challenges for the month of March are here under Monthly Contests.
Join in if you can for some chances to win Scrapgal cyber gift cards to the store :)

~ Painting ~

2011-02-25T21:19:00.000-08:00

Well we had a big overhaul last weekend as far as bedrooms go. Mike and I finally have the large bedroom with two closets back, and Erin is moved into the "yellow" room. The one that was originally the family/tv room before she was born. The one Mike and I took over as our bedroom for a while.

I think this is my favorite photo of her "helping" dad prime the room for a coat of paint. She really was a big help :)

And here they are together. That's my scrap porch out there. Can you see Evan's head there through the left window working on the computer. Lego club I am sure :) The reason Mike and I took over that room as our bedroom when she was younger was because of my scrap room there that you have to walk through the room to get to. So yes, I am going to walk through her bedroom to get to that porch, but I think it's ok now that she's older. Here it is 11pm at night and I am out here even though she is sleeping. The light is on it's lowest setting and I haven't bothered her at all. Although I am not sure how much scrapping I can do at night. My paper cutter is a little noisy!

Here she is trying out her new "big girl" bunk beds. Yes, she wanted bunk beds because her best friend down the street (whom she adores) has bunk beds. And we need the extra sleeping space for guests or sleepovers. We really don't have any. She slept on the top that night because we didn't have the lower mattress yet. It was coming the next day. But the rule is she sleeps on the bottom for now.
I love seeing her heart pillow, and Shaggy doll, and baby with the crazy kid haircut all snuggling in with her. She was so excited. The bottom mattress has the super cute sheets and pillows with the butterflies from PB Kids. The colors are purple, green, and yellow :)

As for Evan, his room got a paint job, too. Yes, that is orange on his walls. His favorite color and the one he chose. Isn't he lucky to have such open-minded parents :)
And yes, he is still into Legos big time. I love those display shelves Mike put up on his wall. They are perfect!
So there you have it! Lots of changes here in the month of February. And I have a feeling there will be lots more in the months ahead with all this remodeling and organizing we will be doing!

My Last Challenge for the Crop :)

2011-02-21T05:27:00.000-08:00

The on-line crop at Scrapgal is over. I posted my first two challenge layouts in the post under this one. My last challenge, since the theme was Crop Your Heart Out, was to use the phrases on Valentine candy conversation hearts as inspiration for your title on a layout or card. I found a great site here with lots of great examples if you didn't have a box left over from Valentine's day :)

My first layout I actually used some white Studio Calico mist behind the photo as kind of a mat. Still using up that Documentary kit from so long ago. I literally have gotten a dozen layouts and cards out of that kit :)

And here is my card example.
Thanks to everyone who hung out at the crop this weekend! It was a lot of fun :)

Scrapbook Treehouse

Art and What it Means to Me!

Currently Listening To...

Sigh...

Ireland Album

Advice From Mom

Time Flies!!

Miss You!

Let It Snow!

Coming Soon! :)

All About Me Challenge

Happy Winter!

ScrapGal Design Team Call

Out of This World!

A Memory to Scrapbook

Top 11 of 2011

Cards

Happy 2012!!

Christmas Vacation from Blogging

Ten on Tuesday - Christmas Style

Christmas Pajamas

December Sketch Challenge at ScrapGal

Well, this little boy...

Scrapping For Fun!

Basic Grey Cards

Laundry Room Sign

* Blog Hop Winner!"

Recipe Book

ScrapGal Blog Hop and "Home for the Holidays" Crop!

A Trunk or Treat Win by a Landslide :)

Busy Weekend and a Busy Halloween :)

A Challenge

7 Gypsies "BOO at the Zoo" Mini :)

On My Mind Tonight...

Fourteen Years...

Two More Scrapgal Projects

Canada - The Anniversary Edition!

Today is My Day...

You & Me

October!

On My Mind...

Product Showcase at Scrapgal

Amazing!

I Won't Forget

On the Go!

This Little Girl...

My New Phone :)

*Scrapgal September Projects*

Blog Hop Mini Prize winner!

Extra Layouts :)

Scrapgal Blog Hop!

First Day of School

Published! :)

Where Did It Go?

And Then She Was Four!

* Flower Girl *

August Design Team Projects for Scrapgal!

Words of Wisdom Found on Pinterest :)

Scrapping My Nephews :)

Tree Climbing at the Gardens!

Standing in the General Admission Line All Day Yesterday on a Hot, Hot Day...

In Honor of U2 Coming to Town Tomorrow Night...

*Photo Banner*

U2!

Turning 40 and a New Month at Scrapgal!

Rainy Monday

Sketch Challenge with Crate Paper

Fun News!

Sketch Challenge with October Afternoon

Today's the Day!

Mini-crop and Design Team Call at Scrapgal!

Studio Calico Challenge!

Using Wallet Sized School Photos in a Matchbook Mini-album

June Design Team Project!

Scraplift Tuesday at Scrapgal! :)

Some Pinterest Inspiration and Big News for Scrapgal!

My Last Scrapgal Layout for the Month of May!

It Was a Big Day :)

Quick and Easy Card Sets!

Scrapgal Layout for the Month of May

Scrapgal September Projects

Photo Banner