Some More Fun Design Team News!

In addition to, the Craft Your Nest Challenge blog and Crafting Ireland on-line scrapbook magazine, I have been asked to join the team at Scrapbooking From the Inside Out kit club!
You can see the blog post announcing the new team here :)

When I told my husband the news, he was happy for me.
But then asked, "how many design teams did you apply, too?" since they have come so quick in succession. And I have never been on more than one design team at a time before :)
I had to laugh because really I applied to just four, not expecting anything. And thought to get even one, would be fabulous!
I really am very picky about what I apply to because I want to enjoy scrapbooking and not be overwhelmed by commitments.

But first for Craft Your Nest, I sent Dawn an email because I saw her post saying she was looking for a few Chickadees and I thought it would be fun! Since ScrapGal, I have missed being on a "team" and having others to work with. I love the deadlines and responsibilities because it has *pushed* me in a good way to improve my style and get more projects done!
And for Crafting Ireland, I thought it would be absolutely amazing to work for an on-line magazine with fun people and I have been inspired by Ireland for a while. :)

As for Scrapbooking From the Inside Out, I spent some time on their boards recently for an on-line crop, and really enjoyed meeting and chatting with the other women. The kits are amazing and I find lately that I really like to work from "kits". I have been creating several pages at once rather quickly this way!
I was also really impressed that on their Current Kit page, they show the kit, a list of journaling prompts, a Pinterest board link for each kit with inspiration, and a music playlist to go with each kit!
I am a Pinterest and music junkie! After seeing both of those options, I sent in my application right away! Plus, one of the songs in the playlist this month was "Beautiful Day" by U2. Um...perfect! :)

 I will actually be starting with the July kit for SFTIO, but here is a sneak peek at the June TRUTH kit...

The reveal is sometime today, and I am looking forward to seeing the contents of this kit. And also the projects made by the older design team members :)

As for design teams, this is it. You won't be seeing any more announcements by me because I am not waiting to hear from anyone else. I am pretty darn happy with my three :)

Hope you have a great weekend and I'll be back on Monday!

Crafting Ireland Design Team! :)

This was hard news to keep to myself for the past week or so! I was asked to be on the first design team for a new free on-line scrapbook magazine in Ireland called Crafting Ireland :)
You can see the announcement and meet the other design team members here.
The current issue,  #10 became available yesterday.
They also have a Facebook page as well :)

Timi and Nicole have put together a fun, inspiring magazine and I am happy to be a part of it!

They introduced the new team in issue ten as well as on the blog, but you won't be seeing our work in there yet Not until issue 11, and I can't wait!

And in the spirit of my new team, a few more pages from my mother-in-law's Ireland trip album :)

 Just some group shots with a journal spot in the center for her to write.

Sorry, the black color is a little off on this page. And the crooked "T" has been fixed. But really just didn't want to take a whole new photo just for the "T" :) Another journal area for her to fill in at the bottom.

And one of my favorite pages from the album. Not because of the "scrapbooking" but because of the photos. I love that photo of Mike's mom on the donkey. She is so beautiful. But I really love his grandmother on the donkey. Especially that bottom photo. I just love that she looks like she has such a wonderful sense of humor. I so wish I could have met her. And I love Mike's grandpa's handwritten notes about the photos.
Perfect!
This is what scrapbooking is all about! :)

Happy Birthday, Evan! :)

I can't believe he is ten today!
Where does the time go?

In the past year he has...

learned how to climb a tree...

been to the Lego Discovery Center in Chicago...

seen U2 not once (this photo Chicago),

but twice up close by the stage. How many kids his age can say that! (And ignore me in this photo, that is water on my shirt because it was so hot! A heat advisory in effect actually. Thankfully they didn't make Evan stand in line all day like us. He was able to come down at 5pm.) But look how cute and happy he is!

And it was worth it! :)

Moving on :)

Been to the CN Tower in Canada. And if you know Evan's love of architecture, you know how much he wanted to see this.

Been to the Hockey Hall of Fame. I had to wait until I was 24 for that one!

 and Niagra Falls!

Started fourth grade...

Visited the 9/11 Memorial here...

Had his dad create the coolest Hogwarts castle for Trunk or Treat at school (with costumes and everything)

Worked really hard on his science fair Earthquakes and Buildings project...

and was able to take a special trip to Indianapolis with his Dad and Erin to see his favorite skyscraper there :)

He wants to be an architect, loves Legos, and likes to travel. And he really did get to travel to some fun places last year! He is a great big brother (when he's not teasing her). And I feel very lucky to be his mom!
I can't wait to see what the next year has in store for him :)

*To Be a Child Again*

Still working on layouts for the challenges over at Scrapbooking From the Inside Out this week. The crop was last weekend and we have until Saturday night to finish.
Challenge #6 is the Iron Scrapper Challenge, and Kai gave us this quote to use somewhere on the layout

Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn't people feel as free to delight in whatever sunlight remains to them?

Rose Kennedy

Plus we had to use some symbolism or picture of a bird and sunshine on the project as well.

When I read the quote, the perfect photo jumped into my head! And then the layout came together pretty quickly afterward :)

I love that photo! Mike took it a Mother's Day last year and it just makes me smile :) But if you click on the layout and look at the journaling, you can see the direction my story took. When I see Erin in moments like this, I sometimes wish I could be a kid again! Free of all the grown up responsibilities I am faced with every day ;)

But I had my time to enjoy my childhood. And I think I did! I really do. So my hope is that both of my children will be able to do the same and not grow too big, too fast. I want them to enjoy their childhood  :)

For the sun, I misted my pinked circle stamp by Studio Calico. But I also used a journal spot by Elle's Studio to type the quote on. The symbol on there made me think of the sun. My bird is a cute little bluebird from my October Afternoon Sidewalks sticker sheet.

Do you ever wish you could be a kid again? :)

Craft Your Nest and a Layout

I mentioned a few posts ago that I am now a design team member (Chickadee) for a new challenge blog called Craft Your Nest. I really like the way Dawn describes why she started the blog and what it is about in this post
here!
So our job will be to challenge and inspire you to just get pages done. And hopefully have some fun in the process :)
And I know Dawn is planning on having a scrapbook giveaway in the near future as well.
Craft Your Nest also has a Facebook page here and a Facebook group where you are able to post your pages from the challenges or any other project you would like to share here.

My first post is up today, and I would love for you to come check it out!
Also, Dawn is in the process of looking for some more Chickadees, which is this blog post here :)

And now for a layout...

This layout is for the May Sketch challenge at Little Red Sketchbook. It is a Page Maps sketch and here is what it looks like...

My layout is definitely a little simpler and cleaner I think, but that is my general style I gravitate towards :) Since I did a layout about Erin and I prior to this one, I decided it was Evan's turn. Because a lot has changed for him, too, since Erin was born. And he is a great big brother! But I know every now and then, he likes when it is just the three of us. Like the old days :)

Well, that is it for today. And hopefully I will see some of you hanging out at the Nest sharing some amazing work! I know that Dawn also wants to do a monthly blog feature on project submissions :)

This Moment...

This layout came about because of a challenge over at Scrapbooking From the Inside Out. 
The theme of their kit this month is Delight and one of the May challenges is to create a layout about living in the present moment. Here is my take on that challenge...

I wanted to keep it simple using one of my favorite, recent Instagram photos. And I have also been wanting to do a four square, grid layout for a while. It really seemed to work for this particular idea.
Man, this is a topic close to my heart right now with Erin starting Kindergarten in the fall. I keep telling everyone that I am going to "miss her" when she starts full time. It's not like we won't spend time together, but it won't be the same. Kind of like when Evan started Kindergarten five years ago. But at that time, I had a new baby to take my mind off of things ;).

Anyway, I am really trying to focus on the here and now. And just pay attention to all the little things going on. Not take anything for granted! These moments are going by way to fast, and I want to remember it. :)

If you are looking for some fun challenges, Scrapbooking From the Inside Out also has a crop going on right now. We have all week to work on the challenges, so that is where I am hanging out this week :)

Ireland Continued...

I have two more layouts to share from my mother-in-law's album :)

I did decide to use black cardstock as the base throughout. I have also transitioned into using the October Afternoon Farmhouse papers and embellishments now that most of the photos are about the family farms in Claremorris. I think the colors go well with the papers I used for the first part of the album so it will still flow :)
I added blank journal strips so she can write in whatever she wants!

Lots of blank space for writing on this page! The photo of her and Birdie (who helped take care of her while she was there) And the cow photos! Well those are special :) I love how excited she gets when she talks about how the cows would come right up to the house in the morning while she was there. So I put in a big journal block for her to tell the story on paper!
I am getting so excited to give it to her! I will have two more layouts to show you next week that are complete, but the photos still need editing. So that means I have completed ten so far! I'm half way there, but moving fast now!
I will also have two completed challenge layouts to share as well. One is a sketch challenge, and one on being present in the moment :)

Hope you have a great weekend!

WOYWW!

It's Wednesday, so I will be linking up to Julia's blog and sharing what is currently happening in my craft space. Love to see so many different places and spaces!

I took a break from my mother-in-law's Ireland album, to work on a sketch challenge (which I actually just completed). But you can see both layouts in progress here, and I am getting so close to finishing her album. I completed four pages recently and have started a fifth.
Several people have asked me over the years if I have thought about making scrapbooks for money. But honestly, I just don't think that is my thing. I like to do them as gifts, but I am such a perfectionist when it comes to pages. And doubly so when someone is paying me, because I want everything to be just right!
It's a lot of work to put an album together, and I am a lot harder on myself when it's not just for my family or personal use. 
So, no. I don't see myself becoming a scrapbooker for hire any time soon :)

Right now, I am actually busy with a lot of school activities and celebrations for the kids. Last week was Teacher Appreciation day. And thanks to Pinterest, I made my own version of this...

But mine looked like this...

I actually included a small baggie with four giant marshmallows, one regular size Hershey chocolate bar, and found a box of six small packs of graham crackers. I think there were 6-8 crackers in each individual pack. That was a lot of fun to give the teachers. :)

In addition, to the S'mores treat, I volunteered to pick up the classroom gift of flowers for Evan's teacher. Of course while we were picking them out, Erin saw some that she wanted to get her classroom teacher. I couldn't say no to that :)

So between that, a field trip for Evan today, an end of the year celebration coming up for Erin, end of the year teacher gifts and so on, the school year is definitely winding down to a close! It's been a good year, but I am definitely looking forward to summer.
Are you looking forward to summer? :)