Sneak Peeks :)

It's time to share a few peeks into what I have been creating with the September Innocence kit coming soon at Scrapbooking From the Inside Out.

I can't wait to share my layouts in the upcoming month! This kit was a bit out of the box for me, so I had fun trying new things. Especially the DIY Thickers. :) And the theme really made me think! I was even able to do a layout using a photo from my senior prom all those years ago. I think on Monday I will be sharing the layout from peek number two first though, since it is one of my favorites this time.

And a peek at the kit from the site, available tomorrow which is just shocking to me. September already!

Also just had to share this photo from Erin's first day of school. Mike managed to get a photo of Erin with her grandma who came up to see her. Look how much she loves her grandma :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend :)

WOYWW 169 and Craft Your Nest

Welcome to What's on Your Workspace Wednesday! I am linked up over at Julia's blog Stamping Ground with a lot of other crafters sharing what we are working on today.
I actually took my photo last night. I just did a big clean up of my finished projects and am ready to start working on my Mother-in-Law's Ireland trip album again. I took a little break and actually met with her this morning to go over a few ideas.
So wanting to finish a few more pages before getting started on my design team projects for next month!

I can't believe it is almost September already.
Both of my children started school on Monday!

This is just the photo from my camera :) I cannot believe my youngest is in Kindergarten!! It just doesn't seem possible. But with both children in school full time, I am trying to decide what project to start on around the house first!

And since it is Wednesday, I also have a post up on the Craft Your Nest blog today titled "escaping with kits".
Hope you have a wonderful Wednesday!

Disappear

Sharing my last Scrapbooking From the Inside Out layout for the month of August. For this layout, I chose a different way to "escape"...

I am going to type out the journaling because I am sure it will be hard to read. Since we just got a new computer, I do not have any older photos on here yet. I had to pull this one from the SFTIO site.

Journaling:
There are times in my day to day life when I feel a little overwhelmed. A little tired. A little restless. A little frustrated.
And there are times when I would just like to escape for awhile. Just get in my car and go to a hotel and stay by myself in the peace and quiet. Where no one is yelling "MOM" all day long in a whiny voice. Where no one is complaining about the food I cook. Or can't find the item they are looking for and are expecting me to pull it out of thin air.
And it's ok because I am human. So I come back to reality and realize that my family loves and needs me. Just as I love and need them. I am pretty essential to their everyday life! And that is a blessing. Something I am truly grateful for on a daily basis!
But every once in a while, on  a particularly crazy day, you might see me eying my car from the doorway and wondering what would happen if I just got in and went for a little drive :)

Photo taken by my daughter while she was playing with the camera on my phone. I found it a few days later :)

This is probably one of the most real layouts I have done in a while. And it felt good :)
I actually used some pink Perfect Pearls and did a dry brushing technique, a stencil from the Crafter's Workshop and blue stamping ink. All which came in the August Escape kit. I am typically not much of a "mixed media" scrapper, but I had a lot of fun experimenting with it all :)
Also, bright pink is not a color I usually choose to scrap with. But in little doses and with that blue, I like it quite a bit :)

Have you scrapbooked about any difficult topics recently?

Five on Friday

1. Can hardly believe that Erin starts Kindergarten on Monday! Both kids will be in school full time!
And I have to giggle when people ask "what will you do with all that free time?" I have a feeling I will have plenty of things to keep me busy. Between one day for cleaning, one for volunteering at school, one day for running errands and grocery shopping, and one day for house projects, I think it will go by pretty fast!
And for a trip down memory lane, here we were five years ago!

Evan starting Kindergarten and Erin not quite a month old :)
Time really does fly!



2. But this summer hasn't been a waste. We have done a lot! Including a short trip this past weekend where Mike is working on a project. We filled our time with...

miniature golf...

and swimming in Mike's apartment complex pool.
Plus there was a day trip into Springfield to the Bass Pro Shop for Evan to get a fishing pole. He has been watching episodes of River Monsters with Jeremy Wade and has become a little obsessed with learning to fish. Mike took him to a lake on Sunday to practice.

And then I took him to a local park yesterday to try it again :)

3. Sad to see summer ending and am so glad my kids are starting school late in the month. I actually have a post up on the Craft Your Nest blog from Wednesday with some layouts that make me think of summer.

4. I also have a post on the Scrapbooking from the Inside Out blog about "Escaping Perfection" in your scrapbooking. A few layouts as examples there as well.

5. And finally, I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. I will be back Monday with a new layout as long as all goes well with installing our new computer :)

WOYWW 168 and Crafting Ireland Magazine :)

Issue 12 of Crafting Ireland magazine is now live! Loads of great projects in this issue, and you can read it on-line here!
I actually have an article in there on page 14 about creating Halloween door hangers. That was one of the projects I couldn't show you on my desk for a previous WOYWW.

And since my desk space right now is filled with "can't show you yet" projects, here is a little peek at the door hangers in the magazine before adding the twine for hanging. I ended up making four. One to keep and a few to share with neighbors :) I will also have an Autumn layout featured on their blog in the upcoming month or so.
With the closing of so many print magazines, I love that there are places to look on-line for inspiration! And Crafting Ireland  is one of them!

If you would like to join in with What's on Your Workspace Wednesday, the best place to begin is on
Julia's blog! Lots of friendly people visiting each other each week :)
I may be a little late getting around to blogs this week, but I will be there! And if someone could let me know whether or not my word verification is on or off, I would appreciate it! :)

Girl's Night Out!

Another layout created using the August Escape kit from SFTIO! I have an exclusive content post up on the Scrapbooking From the Inside Out board today with this layout (plus a few others). The focus of my article is scrapbooking with "imperfect photos". I love the photo on this layout because of our smiles. But it was taken with my phone camera. And if you look at it a little closer, it is blurry. Plus the colors and lighting are off. I just had to scrap it anyway though! :)

Do you scrap photos that aren't so perfect? :)

*ETA - I am linking this layout up over at Paper Issues for their current "Sew Cute, You Keep Me in Stitches" issue. :)

Craft Your Nest Post and a Mini Break!

A new school year is upon us, so I have a "back to school" layout and challenge up on the Craft Your Nest blog today.

It's an older layout created about a fun tradition my son and I started after my daughter was born. Each year before school starts, Evan and I take an overnight trip to an area about 30-45 minutes from our house that has hotels and tons of shopping. We call it our "Back to School" trip. We stay over night in a hotel, swim in the pool, shop for back to school supplies and a toy treat, go to see a movie and have lots of fun meals. Just the two of us :)
It is always good to have some one on one time together.
I even made a mini album from one of the trips.
Here are just a few pages:

The cover.

I had lots of fun putting this mini together and it is a great reminder of our trip! We look at it often :)

As for back to school, I am finding that I need to take the rest of the week off from any kind of blogging after today. Have lots to do! Also why I am not participating in WOYWW. So I will be back on Monday with a new layout and post.
Have a great weekend :)

Escape to the Lake!

I actually created a two page layout for Scrapbooking from the Inside Out this month!

I love that cloud vellum paper from the Dear Lizzy Neapolitan line and thought it would be perfect for this page. Lots of other fun Dear Lizzy product like the flower, polaroid frames cut from patterned paper and the banner. Also used a combination of Pink Paislee, Hambly and Prima for the rest.

What I love most about two page layouts, is the ability to use quite a few photos. And this layout was pretty simple since the design on each page was a mirror of the other.
Do you like to create two page layouts, or prefer to stick with one? A combination?

Chance to Win!

A rare Saturday post for me, but fun news
You could win the August Escape kit from Scrapbooking from the Inside Out
 

My Perfect Escape layout is featured along with one layout from each of the other design team members and guest design team member Ronda Palazzari. Just leave a comment on this post on the CK blog for a chance to win!

Five on Friday!

1. What can I say? I was so impressed  by our Women's Gymnastics team at the Olympics this year. What an amazing group of young women! Very professional and they represented our country so well.
I have to admit, I cried each time a girl won a medal. Especially Gabby and Aly's gold medals. I saw all of the competitions except the women's final. That was on Erin's actual birthday and we were out at Six Flags amusement park with a few friends and family. Unfortunately I forgot to set the DVR for that night. But I have never enjoyed the women's gymnastics competition more!

2. Erin has been wanting to create layouts lately. So I have given her some extra photos, scraps of paper and her own box of scrap supplies. Here is one of her creations.

And here is another. I think it's my favorite. Although I do love how she is practicing her handwriting on the top layout. And she wrote all of our names :) But this blue one she chose letter stickers to write her name and the number three because that is how old she was in these photos. I love how she framed her title :)

And here she is at work :)


3. Lots of bike riding this summer as a whole family or sometimes just me and the kids. I took a few photos one day when the kids were riding up and down our street. Although Evan can go around the block on his own now.

I love this photo of Evan :)

And as my friend Kelly likes to fondly say, "you are in so much trouble with this one!" This was a temper tantrum brewing, but I think we were able to head it off :)

4. Thanks to several of his friends, Evan has discovered a new favorite computer game called Minecraft. He loves the Creative play more than Survival mode for sure. And I think that is because he loves designing the buildings. He loved his Architecture for Kids class he took this summer and I am on the look out for similar classes!

5. And Back to School shopping is done! The kids don't start for two and a half more weeks, but I didn't want to be rushing around at the last minute. Erin and I made a trip to the uniform store to get her fitted for her new little Kindergarten jumpers. Can I just say adorable?! I cannot wait to take photos on her first day. Although it is a little bittersweet for me :)

So I am just going to enjoy the last few weeks of summer because I know it is going to go by fast! :)

WOYWW (not sure which one)

It's time for What's on Your Workspace Wednesday! I am linking up over at Julia's blog  today for our weekly peek into each others creative spaces. I have to say, mine is not very exciting this week.

Seriously being over run by my kids which I love! No really, I do. :) That is Erin's Angry Birds mask from her party. And a little journal page of her's on the right. Under the mask is a pile of Evan's drawings. And then some other pile there. Also some scraps and fall scrapbook product to put away.

I finished all of my current design team projects only to receive the September kit from Scrapbooking From the Inside Out today. The September kit!! Feels funny to be brainstorming ideas for September already :)

I also have a post up at the Craft Your Nest challenge blog today.
Talking about triangles and scrapbooking :)
Would love for you to take a peek if you have time.
If not, I will see you next Wednesday.
Have a great week!

Sweet Escape

Starting the week off with another layout I created with the August Escape kit from Scrapbooking from the Inside Out.

I knew I had to do a layout about this anniversary trip to a resort in Canada that Mike and I took last year.
It really was a "sweet escape" for the two of us. I hadn't felt that relaxed in a long time :)
I think sometimes it is a good think for a couple to get away and spend some quality time together. Our trip was just a few days, but it was enough time.

Now if I could only come up with a great anniversary idea since it's my year to plan. I think Mike is winning in that department, because another great anniversary surprise was the trip to New York Mike set up for us in 2003. Wasn't expecting that one at all :)
Any fun suggestions would be welcome!

To Have and To Hold

I have a wedding layout that was featured on the Crafting Ireland Magazine blog.
You can see a step by step tutorial there.
And here is the finished layout.

I took this photo of my brother-in-law and his wife on their wedding day. It's one of my favorites, and I thought it would be perfect for a layout! I have to say that I am not really into scrapping "traditional" photos lately. I love finding the photos that tell a different type of story. Ones with a more unique twist, and I love it :)

A big thanks to Timi and Nicole for putting my layout on their blog.
And a big thanks to John and Meredith for letting me share a piece of their story :)

WOYWW and My Perfect Escape!

It's What's On Your Work Space Wednesday, but at this time I can't show you what is on my work space. My current project is for a magazine and can't be seen until after it's published in September
But I really didn't want to miss out on visiting with everyone this week at WOYWW, so I decided I would share a layout that came about from the big mess I had on my counter last Wednesday.
It is the first of five layouts I created using the August Escape kit from Scrapbooking From the Inside Out.

What could be a better escape for me than books :) And that book paper in the kit by Cosmo Cricket is what inspired me. Plus the "once upon a time" piece I cut from another piece of paper in the kit. And those arrows are from this...

Dear Lizzy Neapolitan banner cut apart.
The rest of the design team gallery is here and inspiration for the kit can be found here. It really is such a pretty kit.

Since Wednesday is my day to post at the Craft Your Nest challenge blog, I decided to use this layout for my challenge as well. It's all about books and it was a fun one to come up with. I hope you will check it out. :)

 Keeping it short today, but I will be back this Friday with a wedding layout :)