Hi again!!! I'm back!

I hope that everyone had a great holiday season, whatever you celebrate. Sorry I took such a long sabbatical, but I needed the time to work on secret Christmas scrapping projects as well as get things done around the house. Now I am feeling refreshed and the scrapping bug is slipping back into full gear (shifting from OBLIGATORY scrapping, ie. WORK, to hobby scrapping, ie. FUN)I should be posting more regularly again.

Ok...to backtrack a little. I finally finished my Christmas projects. The first thing I was working on was a 2006 calendar for myself and the grandparents. I purchased Clara Wallace's 2006 calendar template at Matter of Scrap. I did a lot of embellishment and recolored a few pages, but here is a sample:


My other big Christmas project for friends and family was scrapbook LO magnets by Danielle at Something Blue Studios. I cannot stress enough to you how AMAZING these turned out. Danielle mounts a 2X2 print of your LO onto thick magnet material and then it has a laminated overlay. They were the HIT of the season around here. What an awesome personal gift to give someone and they look so cool on the fridge. She is making these year-round and the order turn-around was minimal. If you need a special gift, please keep them in mind! Here are the magnet LO's I ordered:





and here are my boys' LO magnets on the fridge:


I have only had a chance to do a couple of LO's this week, but here they are:


(Feather Tree kit by Donna Rafferty)


Journaling is on a recipe card that says FROM THE KITCHEN OF NOAH
We had a great time making the cookies to leave for Santa this year. Usually we make chocolate chip and I make them myself, but this year you picked out gingerbreaed men to decorate all by yourself.

Santa really seemed to enjoy them and didn’t seem to be upset that we had forgotten to leave carrots for the reindeer. OOPS!

(Gingerbread kit and alpha by "TCO", "Santa" element created by me, font: pharmacy)

Well, that about catches things up for me. See you next year...welcome 2006!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Just wanted to hop on really quickly to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.

*<{}:O)

Well, I've disappeared...

I have been so busy the past week scrapping for gifts that I have done no personal LO's at all. I can't even post what I've been working on because some of the people on my gift list check the blog periodically, so I can't take a chance.

I will be back to my regular scrapping stuff soon...don't give up on me, LOL.

I am ahead of the game!!!

Well, after a very long weekend of shopping, I am all but finished getting gifts! This is a HUGE thing for me to be finished the FIRST week of December...NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE!!! Now all I have to do is figure out how to pay for it all, LOL.

Not only did I finish shopping, but I managed to get finished with my Christmas cards as well! If you are on my Christmas card list ABSOLUTELY DO NOT PEEK (!!!), but otherwise, the card can be seen by clicking here
(pattered papers and alpha from Candy Christmas kit by "TCO"; stitching by Kathy Moore; Poinsetta element by Debbie Fisher; ribbons, black paper, staples and Merry Christmas tag by me)

Boy, I never knew how challenging it could be to get two boys to sit still and smile at the same time before. I have a whole new respect for photographers, that is for sure! I honestly didn't know if any of the FIFTY-NINE shots I took were any good, but to my surprise, there were a few cute ones in the bunch. I really love the one I used, so I am happy with everything.

A different way to get inspiration!

I am a member of a private ezboard where all of the members had babies in July 1999 and we have been together for 7 years. Anyway, the admin on that board recently uploaded a ezboard theme for the holidays. The paper was a little busy for reading our board, but I loved it so much that I used it to make a LO! I contacted the designers, so everything was copacetic, and Traci @ Bee Noticed graciously gave me permission to post the LO with her design as the background (Thanks Traci)!! Anyway, just goes to show that you can find inspiration anywhere.

As for the LO, when Noah was a little over a year old, he saw his first snow. We had a little snow here, and by a little I mean A LITTLE snow, LOL. Even though it was barely covering the grass, I just had to make a snowman for him. The limited amount of snow, combined with my less than stellar snowman-making abilities...well, let's just say it was pretty sad, but you know, he LOVED it and that's what it's all about, right.

Here is the LO that I did with the photo of that sad little snowman:

(background paper by Traci @ Bee Noticed, Alpha by "TCO" [sorry...that's the initals in the filename, but there was no TOU included with that file] Fonts: Joint, Black Jack)

I'm getting so absent-minded...

Here's another LO that I finished this month that I never posted. Man, I think my mom having surgery and me spending so much time going back and forth between being a caretaking mom and a caretaking daughter has fried my brain, LOL.

Anyway, this is another attempt at doing some catching up on Noah's scrapbook.



(Papers, tag, and eyelet from Rikki Donovan's Pumpkin Pie kit; Fonts: Batik regular, BlackJack, HankBT)

Journaling reads:Just before your 2nd birthday I took you to
Build-A-Bear and you picked out this cat to make. You kissed the red satin heart and placed it inside your new friend. After stuffing , brushing and washing it was time to give your cat a name and after only a moments thought, you chose Boo Kitty.

Like the new look?

Just finished getting our house decorated for the holidays and I thought I would get my online home wrapped in the Christmas spirit as well. :)

Cool article...and missing an old friend

Check out this article on CNN.com!

Scrapbooking Goes Digital

How cool is that?!?

Today, after applying for Robin Carlton's creative team, I realized that I never posted this LO I did using her Sugar Cookie kit. I think the reason that I never posted it is that it is one of those LO's that makes me cry. As much as I wanted to scrap a LO about Taz, our family dog for 10 years, it makes me so sad. We have thought so many times about getting another dog, but so far we haven't been able to open our hearts back up to being broken the way it was when we lost her.

(Robin Carlton's Sugar Cookie kit, font Janie HMK)

Journaling reads: Taz was absolutely the sweetest dog in the world. Before you were born, she was our baby. When I was pregnant with you, she would curl up in my lap as if she knew you were there and was trying to be close to you. She was so excited about having a baby in the house and couldn’t wait until you got big enough to play with her. The two of you became fast friends. What she loved most was to be in the back yard running with you. She was your sister, your playmate, and your protector.

Sadly, in 2004 one of her lipomas started to grow and over the course of a couple of months she got very sick. Even you noticed the change in her. You said you couldn’t play with her because she was “too sick”.

On April 24, 2004, at 10 years of age, Taz went to heaven where she could once again run without pain. We still miss her so much and she will forever be in our hearts.

Since winter is on the way...

how about a little winter mini-kit?

I had hoped to have more time to practice making some small kits to offer as freebies here, but since that just hasn't happened and I don't see it happening any time soon...at least until after the holidays, I decided to share one of my first little kits I made this summer.

Hope someone can use it. I would love to see any LO's that you do with this, so please post a link. :O)

Just click this preview to download.

Still doing a little catch-up work...

Here is a LO that I did today using Shabby Princess' Shabby Fall kit. I just love all of the fall colors in this kit and thought that this photo of Cooper from Halloween last year would work great with this kit. I LOVE this photo of Cooper...his eyes just look so beautiful to me.

(Shabby Fall Kit by Shabby Princess, font: Wendy Medium)

Another GREAT kit from Katie

I am sooooo behind on Noah's earlier pages, so when I recieved this Christmas-y kit from Katie the Scrapbook Lady, I knew it was the perfect chance to get some catch-up work done. The kit is "All Spruced Up" and you can get it at Katie's Design Shop

Noah was just the sweetest guy that year. I still remember vividly his excitement about the tree. In this picture he was holding a little bell ornament that we had let him put on the tree himself. He took it off everytime he saw it.

I am so excited!

Thanks to Katie the Scrapbook Lady, Katie Nelson, for inviting me to join her Design Team. I can't wait to get busy with her designs. If you haven't already, please check out her shop and blog at http://www.scrapbooklady.org/scrapbookladyhome.html

Just to give you a taste of what she has to offer, I made this LO of Cooper today. He was playing around with these big ol' beads and just had the sweetest smile on his face! One thing I loved about this kit is that each background came both "bold" and "old" (more distressed version of the bold set).


(papers and alpha from Katie the Scrapbook Lady's Black & White
Double Designs kit at scrapbooklady.org, original tags and rivets, fonts: Pharmacy, CK Holiday Spirit, Fancy Pants, and Zipty Do)

I had to stay up until the middle of the night to do it...

but after over a week with no scrapping, I just had to scrap SOMETHING! This was a photo I took Sunday of Noah at a little Fall Fesival that our MOMS Club held.

He has gotten so particular about how he smiles. Used to, he would make the biggest, CHEESIEST grin. It was his genuine smile, and while it was large and exaggerted, I loved it. This year, all of a sudden, he has gotten self-conscious about how he smiles, so you never know what you are going to get anymore. I miss those big grins so much, but when I saw this photo he looked so sweet and happy that I fell in love with the new smile.

(papers by Janet Parrish, doodle's by Angie Briggs. Fonts: MA Kulot, Angelina)

My mom is slowly on the mend, but it looks like she may be in the rehab for quite some time. That is going to put a crimp in my scrapping time, but I will do my best to get a LO done here and there.

MIA right now...

Sorry...My mom had hip replacement surgery Monday, so not much scrapping going on. She is doing very well, but things are just busy here this week. Hope to be back next week!

Halloween, Part 2...

I can't believe it, but it is only November 3rd and I have both boys' Halloween LO's finished. YAY!!!

Noah has always had to be something "cute" for Halloween, because I am not a big fan of the creepy, scary Halloween costumes. This year he couldn't find anything he really liked, so I gave in and said he could be a vampire. I don't mind so much when he at least had to be a little creative to get the costume together...not one of those completely prepackaged, slasher, blood dripping everywhere monstrocities. UGH! We bought the cape and teeth, but then we colored his hair, painted his face, and provided the clothing ourselves. It was actually pretty fun and he really got into the part and felt like one of the BIG boys.

Oh well...I guess you have to let them grow up sometime, but I am holding on as long as I can, LOL.

Here's the LO I finished today:


( Bat paper by Andrea Victoria: Stiches, purple tag, and ribbons by Danielle Corbitt: Boo Tags and Orange bat paper by Khristy S: Just batty frame by Theresa Hernandez)

Halloween, Part 1

Here is a LO that I finished today. Cooper was so cute...I swear, I could've just eat him up...sounds kinda funny considering he was a chicken, LOL, but you know what I mean.


( Ali Folendore and Dawn Stocstill's Falling For You kit, Shabby Princess' Halloween Kit, ribbons (recolored) by Jenna Robertson, Fonts- Brady Bunch, artistamp, Janie Hmk)

This was the HARDEST layout I have ever done!

This is the LO that I did for the week that we were on vacation and Noah made the list of things he wanted to do (see post from earlier this month). Honestly, I didn't think I would ever finish it. It took me over six hours to complete.



(Credits: Buttons by gmama, Filmstrip by Denis Germain. [Walmart, Target, IHOP logos and Wallace & Gromit image found on internet]. Fonts: artistamp, angelina. amertype)

Doing a little catch-up scrapping...

The first 3 years of Noah's life are very lacking in his scrapbook. I didn't start scrapping until he was three and have spent more time trying to stay current rather than catch up. Every once in a while though, I get the urge to scrap some of his older photos.

Even though it isn't the best quality, I have always loved this photo of Noah in the sunlight with my mom's husband, George. It was taken on Noah's 1st birthday, which just happens to be George's birthday as well.



(paper and charm by Gmama, fonts are Texas Hero and Scriptina)

I hate busy weeks!

So this past week has been busy. Not busy fun, but that kind of busy where you are always on the run, but not really completing anything. On top of that, Cooper has decided this week that napping just isn't working for him and he is making a very verbal stand against it.

Now naptime is my saving grace...my only real alone time of the day...thus my main scrapping time. That means that I have had a week of no scrapping, so when I had the chance today, I decided to jump in and scrap SOMETHING!!! Finally...a new LO to post. I did this LO for a color challenge on my online mommy board.



(Fonts used are Pupcat and KarrotHmk. Shooting star by Angie Briggs)

Hopefully this week will involve a LOT more scrapping. I am hoping to get some little kits posted soon. I have three that I did this summer, but want to come up with something new. I am really new at designing, but I really enjoy the creative process involved.

Have a great week!

Now THAT'S Thinking!

Today at lunch Noah's kid's menu had some thought provoking questions on it. One of the questions was, "If you were stranded on a deserted island, what one possession would you take with you and why?". His 6yo answer...A BOAT! That's my boy!

I had time to complete one LO today for a theme challenge. The challenge was to scrap a LO of you with your child(ren). Here is my LO:



(papers and ribbons from Kathy Moore's Black & White Freebie from Digiscrapdivas. Fonts used are Angelina, Catharsis Expresso, and Chick)

In that same bend ( and using the same photo, LOL), thought I would share this LO I made a few weeks ago as an ABC's of Me LO, inspired by a LO by Anita Stergiou. Thought is would be a good way to share a little about myself (click on LO for larger view).