Sophie-Inspired

I may have confessed to some of you that I have basically cyber-stalked Sophie Crespy this year & am a huge fan of her scrapbooking work.  With this in mind, I tried to create a page with her whimsical style.  Not my usual look, for sure, but I am fairly content with the results.  The page came together really quickly & I used some oldies but goodies out of my stash. (Such as these large, clear letters... loved them once, love them still, always have, always will.) So, thanks, Sophie, for inspiration in a year where that was not so easy to come by!

Happy New Year

Well it is officially 2013.  I have been slightly under the weather lately, but apparently that works to my advantage in this house since my husband has felt sorry for me and let me get in a little scrapping time.  So here's the latest & greatest...  I only wish my camera captured the 3-D effect of those leaves that I painstakingly hand cut!

Back to School (!)

This is how I have "back to school!" written on the calander - with a big exclamation mark outlined at the end.  My husband asked what was up with the exclamation mark the other day.  Clearly, he has no idea.  But today has finally come - the last day of summer vacation.  Most certainly worthy of celebration.  For me.  Maybe not so much for the teachers?  So I tried to soften the blow with some humorous back to school gifts for my kids' teachers.

The themes match the teachers' classroom themes for the year: bugs (butterflies - not quite as icky) and owls.

Here's what's written on the tags:

Pens: I hope you write on the hearts of your students.

Pencils: I hope you make memories that can't be erased.

(Would've loved to use erasers, but believe it or not Walmart ran out of plain pink erasers!)

Sticky notes: I hope you can be patient when things get sticky

Gum: I hope you "chews" to see the positive in every situation

Binder clips: But most of all, I hope you can keep it together!

Funny and thrifty.  Just my style.  And, of course, no package is complete if the wrapping doesn't match...

It's a dog's life

So, technically this layout was done for a Color Room challenge (#121) but it may never make it to their home page.  I am worried it is a little plain.  However, it is going to be good enough for now because 1.) Contrary to appearances, I've acutally been putting this thing together for two days; and 2.) If we're being completly honest, it's about a subject matter that I'm slightly less than passionate about right now since he slobbered on one of the papers that I'd intended to use.  So in the spirit of less being more, here's the layout...

Christmas in July

I recently went on a little scrapbook retreat weekend.  Feeling very excited and fairly well-prepared, I set out to have a super-productive weekend.  And I'm sure it would've been, had I not forgotten my pictures!  Fortunately, due to a slight lack of organizational skills, I had some random Christmas photos stashed away in my bag of paper.  The result? Two very differently-styled Christmas layouts completed in the middle of a scorching summer. The first couldn't be more simple...

The other is about as many embelishments as I ever put on a page...

However, both left me in the holiday spirit and dreaming of cooler weather.

TCR#118

This week's color room challenge:

TCR Challenge #115

Here's my latest Color Room challenge: ocean blue, dusty blue, grassy green and, oddly enough, peachy pink.  Definately an interesting mix once you add the peachy color, but here's the end result...

This view really doesn't highlight the fun created in the layout by adding layers, so here's an attempt (from a completely photography-skill-stunted camera person) to show a side view & give you a better take on the layers...

For Susan

You've already seen it, but you're the only one consistently checking the blog, so here's the latest piece of work.  I have to confess that I am rather pleased with it, but I started with an amazing Studio Calico product.

Quickie

Looking for a quick & easy can-do card?  This one you can whip out in literally 10 minutes or less.  Even the card base is a quick solution since it is a premade.  Love the Doodlebug card line & matching stickers!

Reconnecting

The holidays are a great time to reconnect with family, but often we get so busy with all the hoopla that we loose touch with our friends.  January is a great time to remedy that.  I, personally, can't get enough of coffee dates.  I think I could have what my husband deems "fru-fru" drinks daily.  With that in mind, here's a card idea to help you set one up...

Like the stamp on the front? It's a great set from Close To My Heart stamps.

And don't forget, it's often the little details and odds and ends that really make your cards stand out from the crowd.  I like to coordinate the insides of the card and sometimes even the envelopes.

As Promised

Well, my 4.5 loyal followers, as promised I am resuming blogging per a (completely sober, I promise) New Year's resolution.  Allow me to start the new year off with a post-holiday layout...

Operation Christmas Child

This Sunday we brought our Operation Christmas Child boxes to church, which reminded me to remind you that if you want to participate in charitable giving this holiday season, this is a great source to give through.  The concept of this project, for those of you unfamiliar with it, is that you fill a standard sized shoe box with a bunch of great stuff that you think a child needs/wants.  You pick whether you fill your box for a male/female child and what age group.  Better hurry though, box pick-ups are this week.  Here's why I like it... 1.) You can spend as little or as much as you want.  This doesn't require a specific dollar ammount; 2.) This is the only charity I can think of where literally 100% of your donations go directly to a child who needs them; and 3.) You can actually track your donation and see what country your box is dropped off at.  My kids love doing this, believe it or not, and for 1 day of this consumer-driven holiday season they are actually focused on someone besides themselves, which is refreshing as well.  Interested?  Find everything from boxes, to labels, to packing lists at http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/occ. 

Excuses

If you follow this blog, you may have noticed that I haven't blogged all week.  My only defense for this is that I was in a mad rush to get ready for the Osborne craft fair which was today.  Take a look at all our goodies...

However, we didn't even come close to being sold out.  So if you're in the market for some cards, go on in to Shabby Shed on Main Street in Osborne and check out the selection there.  Shabby Shed can also be found online at http://www.shabbyshedfurniture.com/.  And since I missed Thankful Thursday this week,  let me just say that this week I am immensely greatful for a supportive family.  Thanks to those late night emergency room babysitters, those last-minute on-call bus drivers, and those infinately patient souls who saved me from taking three kids to McDonalds by myself!

Color Room L.O. Challenge #83

When photographed, the letters here don't really pop, but in the acutal layout they have some dimension & texture that makes them stand out a little more.  I feel certain that was info that you couldn't possibly have lived the rest of your life not knowing. Ha.  Happy Monday.

Thankful Thursdays

In honor of this month of thanksgiving, I introduce to you... Thankful Thursdays.  It is my goal in November, to be more thankful, so today I am thankful that I got to spend an entire day at home!  I desperately needed a day where I actually crossed things off my to-do list instead of adding to it.  And, I am thankful that it is almost bedtime.  With that, I will leave you with a pic of one of my to-do's for the day: get Alex's fall party snacks ready for school...

(In case you are wondering, these cupcakes are supposed to be pumpkins.)

Color Room Challenge #82 L.O.

This is not my usual.  Those of you who know me can attest to the fact that I am not a "pink" kind of gal. :)  But I had lots of fun composing this one...

As Promised...

Yes, I know I am a day or two late here, but I did promise these pics & I just got my photo card back, so here are the Halloween pumpkin pics I promised last week...
(Oh, and Miles and Jeni, don't be haters.  I think we all know who had the coolest pumpkin.  The sooner you admit it and move on, the easier it will be on everyone.)

From left to right: Miles - "Boo"; Jess - "Eloquent Fall Foilage"; Jeni - "Two Ghosts"; Josh - "Angry Bird";

BJ & Alex - "Grim Reaper"

It's "The Great Pumpkin" Charlie Brown!

Little Red Riding Hood

Alright, I couldn't resist putting these pics of last night up on this blog.  Hope you enjoy as many laughs as I have over these!

Happy Halloween (tomorrow)

Yes, I am wishing you a Happy Halloween a day early because, lets face it, I will probably be running around like a crazy person after three sugared-up kids tomorrow.  In honor of Halloween, I have a couple fun new posts for you... the first is a layout that I actually did awhile back, but believe it or not, it's one of the few Halloween layouts I've actually completed!  Hopefully it inspires you.  The second pic I am posting is a classic!  I really did not intend for this blog to be about my kids, but this one was just too funny to pass up!  Someday, Ben, I hope you will forgive me.  If not, remember, mommy & daddy may not be able to pay for college but we're insured, so therapy sessions are only $20! 

Color Room L.O. Challenge #81

This is my take on layout #81 from http://www.thecolorroom.ning.com/ .  Here's hoping I don't have another occasion to take more pics like this...!