Turning 41, Some Peeks, and a Little Trip :)

Um, yeah, it's my birthday today.
Last year I turned the big 40 which I spent doing jury duty and ending the day with a huge headache.
Not the best way to turn 40.

But this year, no jury duty, hopefully no headache, and happy to be spending part of the day with family. Mike's side today, and then going to be seeing some of my side tomorrow.
So what started as really doing nothing at all, is actually going to be a fun kind of celebration  weekend :)

Next, I definitely want to share a few more project peeks. These are for Scrapbooking from the Inside Out kit club. The theme this month is Communication, and for my first kit with them, I actually had more ideas than I needed. I have a lot to say when it comes to communication :) Especially since we have a great Pinterest board for the kit this month which you can find here!
I actually completed five layouts total this month, but am only sharing three today...

here is one...

this is two...

and finally three.
I'm a little nervous about my first reveal over there, but really enjoyed working with the kit this month!
The full reveal for the SFTIO kit is on July 1st. And Issue 11 for Crafting Ireland is out on July 5th. So will have lots to share in the upcoming week. Including a post with fourth of July tags on the Craft Your Nest blog :)

And now that my design team work is done for July, I plan on working on the Ireland album some more and the Instagram mini. And yes, I promise to share what I create from both. I know a few asked in the comments on my last post if I would :)

As for the "little trip" part of my title, we took a short drive down to where Mike's current job is located. It is a four hour drive, so not as long as when we went to visit him in Canada, but for some reason, it felt like it!  We did have fun visiting him for two days, and enjoyed seeing him in person at night instead of just chatting through the computer. Although the funny thing is, the only photos I took were in the hotel room :)

Playing with Legos together...

And a nap after swimming for a few hours in the afternoon. This little girl does not take naps anymore, but she crashed for at least an hour and a half. Evan and I spent the time having a little "Temple Run" marathon on the ipad. A ridiculous game that he has me addicted to now :)

 Plus a pretty intense sunset out our hotel window. We had a gorgeous view from our room.

When Mike came back from the job site both nights, we ate dinner and then swam some more.
And is was hot there, but is even hotter back here! Tomorrow is supposed to be 106 degrees not counting the heat index! In fact, the next few days are over 100 degrees! Kind of crazy.

Now going to relax and enjoy my birthday. I hope everyone has a great weekend!!! :)

Craft Your Nest!

I am taking a break from What's on Your Workspace Wednesday (or WOYWW as we like to call it) because I have a lot going on today! Just way, way too much.

But I do want to share that I have a post up on the Craft Your Nest blog with a card I had originally made for what was I thought going to be my American Crafts design team application.
I have come to the realization though that even though AC is *the number one* manufacturer team I would really love to be on, it is just not something I would feel comfortable taking on right now.
And I am saying that on the very slim chance that I would even make the team!
But I if you don't try, you never know right? And that is what I said about the Crafting Ireland team and Scrapbooking From the Inside Out. And you know how that turned out :)
So really, you never do know!

But I know I am at my limit for design team work.
And I know I said I would keep trying out for the American Crafts team until I made it ;) :)
But right now, between current design team work, a summer full of activity, and a husband traveling so frequently, I just had to tell myself no. It was really, really hard though :)

I was also working on this little Instagram mini as part of my application, and I will definitely share more with you at a later date when it's closer to completion.

But like I said, my card is on the CYN blog today. And while you are there, you may want to check out two of Dawn's recent posts which include a video of her craft space, and a cool Father's Day word art project she created with her kids :)
Plus Cheryl has a really great fussy cutting challenge that inspired me!

Have a great Wednesday!! :)

Just a Little Peek!

I have the tiniest of peeks for my first layout appearing in Crafting Ireland.

I will also have a Summer Card set featured as well. Can't wait to see if both projects end up in the magazine of if one is possibly going to just be featured on their blog. Either way, my first projects for them are done!

And I just had to smile the other day. While I was taking photos of my projects, Erin was scrapbooking her own way!

Yep! That is Erin in her bed with reading light on...

and her little sticker drawer pulled out of the container from downstairs. Crafting in bed.

I mean really, who hasn't thought this was a good idea :)
See you Wednesday! :)

This is a Test.

This is only a test to see if I can get the schedule function to work properly on my blog :)

My Older Scrapbooking Days! :)

After doing the post on Monday using two of my older "daddy" layouts, I thought it would be fun to go back and share a few more older layouts that I have never posted to this blog before :)

Like this one of Evan, my ten year old son, eating his first bowl of cereal. I don't think I actually made this in 2002, but it was right around the time American Crafts first released their Thickers which has been several years.

Here is a layout with Evan once again and more paper tearing here. I went through a huge paper tearing phase for a while. Did anyone else have an excessive love of paper tearing :)

Ohhh, this is a pretty old one, since it's Evan's ultrasound photos. Now I know I did this one in 2002. It has the Creative Memory page and metal rim tag :)

And I was so proud of this one (and actually still am) made around the same time which is also on an old Creative Memory page.  It's Mike trying to listen to Evan's heartbeat when I was pregnant. Love the old, old Basic Grey. I'm pretty sure it was one of their first lines!

And then Erin was born, and my style had definitely changed. I was doing a lot of stamping with mini letter stamps during that period.

Oh, and I just found this one! I have always loved this one. Evan and his favorite snack of graham crackers with milk. Or "crackers and dip" as he liked to call them. It was his little nightly ritual before bed. Something he still does, but with cereal and milk now.

This was fun for me today! And as always it reminds me that I scrapbook to save memories, and to tell stories. Because even back then, like in the Crackers and Dip and the Snugli layouts, I was documenting everyday life. :)

As for current projects, in the past week I have completed four layouts, four cards and am working on a mini album and another layout. I will have some peeks next week and then will be able to share them starting July 1st since they are all for design team work.
Hope you have a great weekend!

WOYWW and Craft Your Nest!

Three weeks in a row for What's on Your Workspace Wednesday! I think it's because I missed the fantastic three year celebration Julia had and now I don't want to miss anything fun! Plus, so many wonderful crafters post there and since I am still relatively new to WOYWW I am loving slowly getting to know them. A lot of people participate every week. Well, over 100. But I am starting to recognize and look for some familiar names :)

I thought I would give you a glimpse of my space at night since I usually post daytime photos :) I had to cover up my project a little bit, but you can get a peek there. My space is a little messier this week for me, but I have a feeling it is still not messy enough for some (lol). I am just not a messy, messy scrapper. Which is ironic because being a preschool teacher for so many years, we did a lot of messy projects. But me myself, I like a nice clean workspace to create :)

And since it's Wednesday, I also have a post up with a new favorite layout some of you may have seen already at the challenge blog Craft Your Nest. So if you are up for a little scrapbook challenge, you may want to check it out! :)

Hope you all have a lovely Wednesday! 

Father's Day!

We did not take one single photo yesterday for Father's Day. Shocking I know! But thought I would share two older layouts.

One of the first I made of Mike with Evan when he first became a dad ten years ago :)

And here is one from when Erin was born almost five years ago.  :)

And a few of my favorite photos of Mike from this past year.

Hanging out in Toronto before going to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Always willing to scoop up Erin and hold her even after coming back from a run and being completely tired.

Always willing to pose for a family photo. Last July at our annual brunch.

Making sure that the kids can not only talk to him, but see him as well when he's gone for days at a time for work! And let me just say, it really makes a difference!

Willing to stay up late building a gigantic Hogwarts castle for Evan's Trunk or Treat at school, plus wearing the Dumbledore costume!

I have said it before and I will say it again.
Mike, you are a great dad. And we are so lucky to have you! xxoo

True Friends

So I have actually been kind of excited to share this layout.
I found the quote on Pinterest one day and it completely rang true to me.
And then when the topic of the June kit from Scrapbooking From the Inside Out was Truth, I knew that I wanted to use that quote.
In my lifetime, I have been really lucky in the friend department. I have been lucky to find several women that I really connect with. Three of those women are in this layout.

The Journaling:
This quote reminded me of a night about a year ago when I received a not so nice email from someone I had once considered a friend.
Thankfully I was in the car with three of my best friends coming home from a fun night of celebrating my birthday.
I had pulled out my phone to check the time and saw that I had a new email. After reading it, I showed the message to my friends. They immediately reassured me that it wasn't worth thinking about or reading. They knew this former friend was wrong in so many ways.
But the truth is, I know I am not perfect. I am human after all. And I know there are moments in my life when I  could have handled situations better.
But what I have also discovered through these women, my friends, is the meaning of true friendship. A true friend will accept you flaws and all. A true friend won't try to bully, manipulate or control you. A true friend will stick by you through the good as well as the bad.
These women are true friends! They are my village and I am a part of theirs. And they encourage me to be the best friend I can be.
We are raising our children together. Supporting each other in any way we possibly can. And I am and will always be so, so grateful for the gift of their friendship!


I think the journaling really expresses how I view friendship now. And along with these women I am grateful for the other wonderful women in my life. And we are alike in ways, but so different in many others. What my friends have also taught me is that it is ok to be different. It is ok to have a different opinion. And in that way we balance each other out! Life really is better with friends :)