A LONG day

So today I had to take my car in to have my brakes worked on. It is a long story, but we knew this last Friday and the service department was having to get with other dealers to get the needed parts so that they could complete the repairs this morning. They had originally told me that it would be ready around 9:30am. BUT when I arrived at 8:45 I found out that they were still waiting for one of the parts to arrive. Long story short, I didn't get out of there until 1:45!!! The only two good things were that my husband was home today so he was able to keep Cooper with him AND that I thought to take my laptop with me, so I was able to scrap until my battery ran out.

Here are the two LO's I did sitting in the waiting area at the car dealership today, LOL.

(credits: Kim Crother's Primary kit)


(Christmas Dots kit by Stacey Stehley, My own reindeer doodle)

My Nana

My grandmother passed away in 2002, but this is the first time I have been able to do a LO in her memory. I really miss her! :O(

My July99 board had a color challenge this week and I got inspired to design a little kit and used the kit to make this two-page LO.

Journaling reads: Nana was such a little fireball and never allowed herself to rest. She spent her whole life taking care of everyone else. She worried about everything and everyone and their problems became hers. She would literally offer you the clothes on her back or the food on her plate if she thought you needed or just wanted them.

I will always remember her little "love-pats", her love of a beautiful camilia bloom, her fried chicken at Sunday dinner, and most of all, her face in the window as we drove away. She would stand in the window with a huge smile on her face and her little hand fluttering a goodbye wave. When I think of her now I overwhlemingly see her standing in that window, waving at me. I truly believe that one day we will walk through Heaven's gates and see a house with a window and Nana will be standing in that window waving, waiting for us to "come on in".

Which scrapbook magazine am I? (a quiz)

I was one of only 9% of quiz-takers to get this result:


You are Memory Makers. You were scrapbooking when
it all began, and you like to stick with
variations of the basics. You love punches and
punch art because it is decorative without
taking away from your pictures, which are your
primary focus. You believe in the basics and
are careful not to get carried away with the
trendy and new. Your photos are preserved and
save in classic-looking layouts that are never
over-decorated. Your scrapbooks are mostly
chronological, and focus on major events in
your family members' lives.


Which Scrapbook Magazine Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Working on my journaling...

I have never been good at journaling. I want to be, but I struggle. A lot of my LO's are just titles, but I have made it a goal this year to do better and so far I am pretty pleased with myself.

I finished this LO yesterday and I was so happy with the way the journaling just naturally seemed to "fit" the LO. Maybe I'll get the hang of this journaling thing yet, LOL.


Journaling reads: One by one you watched your friends lose their first tooth and every time you would ask us to check to see if your teeth were loose. Every time we said, “Not yet, but you’ll get a loose tooth soon.” After a while it seemed like everyone had lost at least one tooth except you. Some of your friends had lost two, three or even more. You were getting very discouraged.

Then one day you told me, as you had so many times before that you thought your tooth was loose. I expected to give the same answer, but to my surprise, when I tried to wiggle your tooth it actually moved a little! Neither of us could believe it and you couldn’t wait to tell Daddy and call your friends and family to tell them the exciting news.

Every day you wiggled and wiggled that tooth until it was barely hanging on. With a little help from Daddy, FINALLY, on DECEMBER 7, 2005 you lost your very first tooth...the same tooth that almost six years earlier was the first to come in. It was very bittersweet.

(Credits: Fernlili's Dirty Boy papers and ribbons, buckle by me; Fonts: Bernard MT Condensed, CK Tailor Sloppy, Brady Bunch, Artistamp, Sketchy)

Another oldie

I am still trying to get some old photos scrapped and this was one photo that almost begged to be scrapped, LOL. I will never forget walking into the dining room and seeing this face staring back at me. We were both laughing so hard at the end.



Journaling reads: You were sitting at the table having a snack when I looked up and saw you wearing your Mr. Potatohead glasses. It was one of the funniest things I had ever seen! By the time I could get my camera, you were laughing so hard and that big grin just made it that much funnier.

(Credits: Midsummer Swelter kit by Rina, Bows by Carrie Stephens, Alpha by Cashew Style (recolored))

Noah is just so adorable, I swear!

I just LOVE these photos of Noah from Christmas morning. Yes, they are funny...yes, he looks like he has lost it, LOL...but nothing in life is worth more than seeing that much excitement on your child's face. I have never seen that level of energy come out of a person before and it was priceless. Combined with the fact that it was Cooper's first awareness of Christmas, it was honestly the best Christmas yet.



(credits:Digichick's 'Tis the Season De-zine freebie, large background by me, green ribbon by Terry Himes; Font: Garton)

My first 2 page digital LO

Even as a paper scrapper I was never big on 2 page LO's, but sometimes it just seemed to be a better option. Since I started digi-scrapping, I had yet to do a 2 pager, but today that has changed.

I was going through old photos again (maybe one day, many, many years from now, I will actually be caught up on Noah's first three years) and found these photos from our trip to the zoo in 2001. Somewhere in the middle of the LO I decided to try adding a second page and I am pretty pleased with how it turned out. One point for me for trying something new. :)

(credits: Kim Crothers' Renew kit, flowers by PiNG designs (recolored), tabs and staples by me; font: tall paul)

Dare to Muse Me

I have finished my first challenge from Holly McCaig's exciting new Dare to Muse Me Challenge and I am so excited. OF COURSE, I'm behind, LOL, but I did it!!! YAY me!

The first challenge was to create a LO of the soundtrack of your life. I really had to think about this one, but I am very happy with my song choices. Here's my LO:


(Credits: Gina Miller's September Spice kit, fonts: Edda, Susie's Hand)

This week's challenge is to create a LO stating "Women are_______" This will take much more thought on my part. Hmmmmm.... Honestly...I am finding that the thing I hate the MOST about doing self-oriented LO's is the fact that unless I want every LO to use the same two or three photos, I actually have to get in FRONT of the camera once in a while, LOL.

BTW, Holly's grandpa is very ill (see her blog) so keep him in your thoughts and prayers. I know too well the worry of having a beloved grandparent so very sick and it is just terrible. :O(

120+!!!

Went to Gina Miller's chat at SBB last night and I couldn't believe my eyes when the number of members in the room hit 120! It was like a madhouse. Posts were just flying off the page...it was maddening to try to keep up, and yet it was a blast. Gina gave out a beautiful (as always) freebie and I used the freebie to do a scraplift.

Have you seen Susan's Digital Scrapblifting Fun blog??? It is so cool. She picks out a great LO and then you can send in (no time deadline)your lift and she will post it with the original. This LO by Sheri R at 2peas was the first LO there that I have lifted. Here is my scraplift using Gina's wonderful freebie from last night:

Journaling reads: All you need to make everything perfect is your paci and your "baby".
(credits:Gina Miller's Short Stack freebie, "simple" is from Lyndsay Riches' Sheer Alpha; Font-Susie's Hand)

Check out Susan's blog for inspiration!

Our Crazy Christmas Photo Shoot

I just had to make a LO using some of the terrible photos that we got trying to get just one good shot for our Christmas cards this year. Here's the LO I finished today:


Journaling reads:
I never dreamed it could be so hard to get two boys to smile at the same time for Christmas card photos.

We got the boys dressed in matching Christmas-y turtlenecks and sat them down in front of the tree for a “quick” photo shoot. It quickly became apparent that this was going to take longer than we expected. No smiles...fingers in mouths...dad’s hand in shot (with bribery drink)...too blurry...too silly...Cooper climbing out of the shot...the list went on and on. After about 15 minutes, Noah was tired of smiling and Cooper was tired of being forced to sit so I shuffled through the FIFTY-NINE shots I had taken, praying that there would be ONE decent shot that we could use on our Christmas cards.

Out of all that craziness there was actually one ADORABLE shot! From that shot came our 2005 Christmas cards...

(credits: Bkgd paper-Shabby Princess; Red Ribbon-Stacey Stehley; gingham ribbon-Anita Stergiou; "C"-Valerie Fowler; "R"-Michelle Pearson; "A"-Eyelet alpha from Cashew Style; "Z"-Canay's stencil alpha; "Y"-Gina Miller---credits for the Christmas card are listed in December archive)

Hopping on for just a minute...

to share one LO I did today. I felt like I have done so many LO's of Noah lately and none of Cooper, so when I ran across this cute photo of him today, I decided to get to scrappin'.


(background paper by Camille Diaz, dog tag and chain by Laurie Farrar, camouflage paper (recolored) by Holly McCaig)

My goal

this year, (and honestly, knowing myself with "resolutions", I don't think I'll do to well with follow through) is to start a scrapbook about me. I LOVE scrapping my kids and stuff, but I have always admired LO's that people do about non-kid related stuff. Holly McCaig is starting a new Dare to MUSE Me weekly challenge and maybe that's what I'll do. Maybe I can manage one LO a week on non-kiddie stuff. I encourage you to check it out.

Well, Dwight is going back to work today after being off since Christmas Eve. I have so many friends who would be so glad to finally get their husbands out of their hair after that long, but I have really been blessed in the husband department. I am so sad to not have him here every day, but I guess it would be nice to continue paying the bills each month, huh? Oh well...only 30 more years until retirement.

While I still haven't done our Christmas LO's, I was able to finish this LO from NY's eve:

(Be Merry kit [recolored] by Tracy Collins, fireworks doodles created on my new wacom tablet)

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.