Remember: Busch Gardens

Here is another little page I made of some of our favorite pictures from Busch Gardens.  My husband had a really bright kelley green shirt on, so I decided to highlight some of those bright colors with some Amy Tangerine die cuts that I had sitting on my desk.  I used a Studio Calico kit for the paper and washi tape, but it has been so long since I’ve had any time to actually enjoy scrapping, I have no clue which kit it came from!  This layotu makes me pretty happy just looking at it!

The sweet life

I finally got my mojo going this week and did another layout. This is the second set of pictures that has been laying on my scrapbook desk for the last 3 months. It's crazy to me that I can get stuck for so long, but hopefully I'm out of my funk!
So, here you go - a little bit of My minds Eye and some embellishments from Close to My Heart.

She Arose!!!!

I feel like an old Easter hymn, Up From the Grave She Arose! Please don't think I think I am worthy of taking Christ's place in that song, that's just what I thought when I finally emerged from my scrap booking slump last night!
I had the pictures for this layout and another layout out on my desk for almost 3 months - crazy! I would cut paper, rearrange pictures, open magazines...nothing helped.
I had my daughter's birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas treats to make, Christmas cards....basically anything and everything gave me an excuse to keep shoving these pictures aside.
Eventually, I started getting worried that I was wasting money and never going to scrap again. I knew better!
Thankfully, a trip to Archivers and a Scrapbook Trends magazine (and a day off work!!!) were all it took to help me escape my lack of mojo.
So, here's to more layouts coming soon!!!!

Life is Good with You Around

I have used several pieces of my Elmwood Park kit, but I also have had several of those office type items that I haven't been able to fit into any of my layouts.  Luckily last night I finally got inspired to use some of them!  I stamped the burst stamp across my white background and used a 1 3/8" circle punch to fill it with scraps of paper from the kit.  I used an October Afternoon journaling spot to stamp the title and just added a few pieces of chipboard and jewels for accents.  It took me a while to come up with a good design that I liked, but in the end I was pleased.

I used a We R Memory Keepers page protector to add a few more pictures to the vacation album.  I loved how I was able to add the phones to accentuate the funny picture of the lady in period costume talking on her cell phone!  Too funny, but so real!

Play

Here is one of my favorite pictures from Williamsburg.  As we came and left, we stopped at the children's barn where my daughter enjoyed playing Colonial games with the young people there.  Here she learned how to play a number game - a great math game.

I made an accordian flower from a scrap of paper and added some Petaloo flowers in the corner.  Vintage illustrations are october afternoon and chipboard banner is My Mind's Eye.

I've been trying to use these We R Memory Keepers photo pages so I can stick a few more pics in without feeling too guilty (they're just hard to get pics of!).  I just added a few more of the same pieces here - a little OA Washi tape and a tag from a Studio Calico kit.

A trip to Colonial Williamsburg

Here is a picture of the fam at Colonial Williamsburg.  Typical picture you get when you ask a tourist to take a picture of the family - a whole lot of forground and a tiny image of the family!  But, hey, full family pictures are rare these days, so you take what you get and don't throw a fit!

I used a vintage die cut from Pretty Little Studio as well as several October Afternoon chipboard pieces and a My Mind's Eye journaling spot for this page.

Here are just a few of the photos of sights around Williamsbug - the oxen pulling the yoke, the drummer and fife boys, and the cannons blasting.  Things you don't want to forget!

More OctoberAfternoon paper and chipboard.  Studio Calico paper and a Hambly overlay here.

If you want some living history, Colonial Williamsburg is the place to go!  I'll have more for you tomorrow!

And just a little sight of the start of the fall leaves changing - here's a view from the corner of our road Sunday when we went out for a walk - it's starting to look like fall!  I just loved the gorgeous warmth of the sun melting the tops of the trees here.

Gettin' crabby!

Does your significant other have a love for some kind of food that cannot be denied?  You could probably say that my husband likes crab legs.  I can recall when we were just dating a time when we went to an all you can eat crab legs place.  My husband ate plate after plate after plate....I was nearly mortified!  Well, 13 years later things haven't changed.    The big guy on campus still loves his crab legs and enjoys plate after plate when we can find them close to the coast. 

Here are two pictures detailing how much he loves them!  I had the camera with me and took a picture when we sat down to start eating.  Notice how the second picture is nearly the same image?  It is an hour later.  That's right - an HOUR LATER PEOPLE!  This boy can put those crab legs away!  Meanwhile I got to chase our daughter who was enjoying lovely waterfalls and an indoor brook!  But, hey, if that's his only request, what can I say?  I'm pretty blessed!

 

The sweetest thing - my sweet baby boy!

Well, you know, I guess I am a little partial!  ;)  I think my baby boy is the sweetest thing in the world.  He really is - he is such a good boy!  Here he is just hanging out at 2 months old.  Flashing smiles here and there, just taking it all in.

This piece of paper by Basic Grey was pretty easy to use - I just cut it down a bit and put it on a kraft background.  I used another piece of Basic Grey behind it.  All I did on this layout was added some washi tape here and there and a couple of pieces of the Central High kit to the layout and I was finished!  I wasn't sure if I was going to like that paper, but it turned out to be really easy to use!

Closet Capers

It has been such a blessing to have our second child.  I know he is still little, but right now our daughter just adores him and he adores her in return!  Knowing what it's like to have a little brother, I realize that this will change soon - those whiny days and fighting evenings are coming.  It's inevitable!  But for now, I am just going to enjoy them being happy with each other.

Here is my daughter deciding she needed some one on one time with her bubby.   She is careful with him, thankfully!  While on vacation, she took him into the closet with a pillow so she could make him giggle all by herself.  How silly - and cute - is that?! 

I just love the way this layout turned out, too.  I used some of the elements from the 35 mm kit from Studio Calico for this page.  The stickers and envelope and banner pieces are all from Heidi Swapp.  The gorgeous flower is Petaloo - on clearance at Hobby Lobby.  The cutie pie piece is My Mind's Eye and the heart border and people borders are from Amy Tangerine.  Thickers are American Crafts and the star is KI Memories.  Scrap of polka dot paper is October Afternoon. 

PLS giving me some mojo!!!

If you are not familiar with Pretty Little Studio, you need to get to know this company!  It is a scrapbook company that makes ALL of it's product right here in the USA!!!!  That's what I'm talking about!  Plus, the quality is superb and the designs are darling....now if only I had a money tree to supply all my wishes!  ;)

Anyway, I've not been getting much scrapping done lately....you know how life gets in the way, gets you down, or keeps you busy....that's been me.  I decided I needed to peruse my favorite inspirational sites (this is a NEED, people!) and it was well worth my time!  In addition to this layout, I made 3 other layouts for a great start to scrapping those vacation pics from this summer! Woo hoo!!!

Needless to say, the sketch challenge is where this all started!

I started with a grey cardstock background and took my Studio Calico mask and some Bonnie Blue Mr. Huey and went to work.  I also sprayed my splash tag from PLS with Bonnie Blue. 

I strayed from the sketch quite a bit once I got started.  I decided I didn't like the placement of the title at the top right corner and placed it down below instead.  I added several sandcastle hexagon stickers and an assortment of other embellishments to that area.  To make the word Splash stand out, I added a dotted outline around the inside of the words.

I took the inspiration for the tag lineup from a layout I saw in Scrapbook Trends.  I thought it was cute, so I added 4 of my sandcastle tags to it. 

Now....if only my housework were this fun to do! 

You are Such a Joy

I took a pic of my daughter at Hobby Lobby with one of those big open frames.  I'd seen the picture idea on Pinterest, so I thought I'd give it a shot.  We finally got a Hobby Lobby in our town and my daughter adores going there!  And, of course, so do I!  

For this page, I mostly left this My Mind's Eye paper just as it is.  I just tried to add a few items that blended in with what was already going on on the page.  In the bottom corner I added a little dark peach dahlia and a Petaloo flower that I misted with Peach chalkboard mist. 

To the picture itself, I added a couple of diecuts from an SC kit and a chipboard piece from My Mind's Eye.  Not too much more going on!

Celebrate Moths

With a five year old child running around here, we have learned to celebrate every living being....from caterpillars to moths!  This little bug of ours was so delighted when her caterpillar came out of it's coccoon and turned into a moth!  She just had to help it along it's merry path into the world!  I thought the barn background paper was really just perfect for the occasion!  These hexagons from My Mind's Eye paper were so cohesive for the nature theme, also.  I added a picture of the moth on the deck by tracing a hexagon onto the picture and cutting it to the same size as the rest on the page - it almost blends in!  But, hey, that's what moths do!

Linking up to Pretty Little Studio's Ad challenge!  Love the title of the ad - a date with a unicorn....I have no idea what the movie is about, I just know my daughter adores unicorns!

Ombre on my page

I took a picture of my daughter in the middle of some balloons at her cousin's birthday party and this is the page that resulted.  It is cuter in real life!  I tried to go for an ombre look with washi tape - blues from dark to light.  I used lots of October Afternoon paper and accents to go with it. 

Some of the accents are shiny because I added Moonlight Smooches over the top to make them super shimmery and sparkly!  

Items for this page came from the Summer of '69 kit by Studio Calico.

You are my Sunshine

Since my husband recently lost his job to budget cuts, it has been imperative that we put items in our local consignment sale! God knows what He's doing even when we don't see the forecast for our future, that is certain! We have saved all of our daughter's clothes since she was a baby (the good clothes!), so it was definitely His timing for us to be able to put all of these clothes as well as some large items like a jeep and a cabin in the sale this month! I think we have enough to cover this month's house payment....

Anyway, I was so pleased with the way this layout turned out!  I didn't even scraplift or use a sketch - I just had a vision in my head and went with it to create this page! 

My daughter took a picture of herself with my husband's phone and this was the result.  Now, if you have a 5 year old, you realize that this particular photo is in the midst of 200 or so completely random pictures of things like her toes, dead bugs on the window of the car, blurry pictures of cars driving by....you name it!  Lots of clutter on the phone album!  My husband was just thrilled when he came across this photo she took - he even (gasp!) put it on Instagram!  (So not something he typically does!)

Anyway, something about the look on her face and the way her lips look so pink and her eyes just glow with an innocent sense of mischief.....it just makes me love this photo!

 

To create this page, I used the Summer of '69 kit from Studio Calico.  I started with the White Woodgrain base and created a sunburst with Mr. Huey Lemonade.   (To make my sunburst so perfect, I took the circle graph mask from Studio Calico and masked off two sections at a time to spray/not spray).

I also spritzed the doily with Creme Rouge Glimmer Mist to match my daughter's lips.  I added a little more pink with the pink/white washi.  I brought out the green in her eyes with the teal ribbon from October Afternoon Woodland Miscellany pack. 

The circle accent was My Mind's Eye and the top two accents were out of the kit.  Sticker is October Afternoon.

 

A card for a boat themed birthday

My daughter's best friend is having a boat themed birthday party today, so I dug through my supplies to find all the boats I had.  Not many, but thanks to my friend, Tara, I had some in a Boarding Pass Miscellany kit from October Afternoon.  I added that to some Rocketship paper and red American Crafts cardstock to create the base of the card.  I masked off the boat on the flashcard and spritzed Bonnie Blue Mr. Huey on the front. 

The brads, border, and flags are all Basic Grey and Crate Paper.

And here is the inside of the card - just a scrap from the card front, another couple of tags and stickers from October Afternoon made a great base.  I stamped the sentiment from the Heyday Sentiment stamp set in Midnight Muse (Stampin' Up!) on the sticker.

Now here's to a party filled day!  Hope your day is full of play!

Totally Random

Did you miss me? This layout will show you a good reason you haven't seen me around this week! School started this week....needless to say, we started the baby in daycare, our daughter started kindergarten, I started back to work, she lost her first tooth and the tooth fairy came, and my husband got informed he will be laid off at the end of the month! What a way to start a week, huh? It's been just a little crazy....

Anyway, I really couldn't call this a better title than Totally Random!  I mean, look at these two crazies!  I was just trying to get some family pics of those two steak lovers....and my daughter starts giving it the crazy looks...and then she wanted to pose with the ketchup bottle.  I mean, really?  Ketchup?!  I hate ketchup (I know, it's totally un-American of me, but I love mustard and pickles and A-1!)

Anyway, I used pieces from the recent Studio Calico kit for this layout - loved how the green and grey colors matched my hubby's shirt.  I also love all of those October Afternoon goodies I got in the last kit!

My first attempt at chevrons....

Today I am sharing a layout I created with some handmade chevrons.  I haven't decided what the easiest way to make these is....I thought I had a good idea.  I cut 3 inch strips of patterned paper and lined them up, then I took some scissors and cut the edge straight up the center.  It turned out okay, but I saw another tutorial in CK Magazine, so I'll try their idea soon and see how that turns out! 

I used lots of Elmwood Park paper on this layout - all of the blue and red colors just seemed very boyish to me!  I added several wooden stars as well as some OA and Amy Tan journaling and embellishment spots.  I also used My Mind's Eye pieces for the title and the chipboard at the bottom.  The star in the title is from Pretty Little Studio. 

Fresh-Picked Memories

Here's a quickie little page I made to capture some of those oh, so cute clothes my baby has worn this year.  I love this little milk outfit with the milk truck on the zipper and the cuffs of the jeans. 

I wanted to accentuate the green and blue color combo, so I stuck with the Simple Stories summer line and accented with some pieces from the elmwood park kit from Studio Calico.

I love that there is burlap paper in the summer line - I'm not allergic to it, so no sneezing or sniffles were involved in the making of this page!  :)

And....I believe I hear that little one crying for some milk, so this little milk maid has to run!

Washi starburst

Okay, so I'm trying to embrace this starburst rage (I love the look....just not good at creating it!) and do it well on a layout.   If you have any tips for creating this look successfully (without taking hours of time...) I'm all ears.  Well, all eyes in this case!

 Anyway, I got this idea to create a page and start with this little sunburst title.  I used the starburst to guide the placement of the washi tape.  Once I had the washi on my layout, I masked off each section to spritz with mr. huey.  I wanted to leave a few sections open for my journaling.

I used Bonnie Blue and Pony Mr. Hueys to spritz.  I took Barnwood and splattered on the other two spots.  The patterned paper is Authentique and the Starburst  and Washi is My Mind's Eye.

Project Life....catching up!

I'm starting to get caught up on all of my Project Life weeks.....this is the middle of April here.  I used some scraps from a Studio Calico kit and some Echo Park stickers for this page.

Note the bottom picture....my daughter took a doll brush and decided to play the handle of our wood stove as an instrument.  It makes for a rather interesting version of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, I must say!!!

Here is my brother and his first son meeting my new baby boy.  And the bottom picture is one of my little boy meeting his brand new baby boy the first day he was born!  Cousins....a month apart!  I love the way the sequins look on my journling spot - they give it a bit of pep and pizzazz!!

Oh, the glare....grrrr.....

I bought some fun new Fabulous pieces from Simple Stories at Archivers, so they were just perfect for these pics of our bike ride and some spring flowers.  I love the stickers that are made to look like Washi tape!  Too cute!  The Dear Lizzy sticker was quite appropriate for the bike card....that's exactly what my daughter says every time she wants to go  for a ride!