New layouts to share

So this weekend my husband blessed me with a day off to go scrapbooking and I have to say it was by far one of the best Valentine's presents that I have ever gotten. I came back so refreshed and energized, totally needed for this mom :) I managed to scrapbook 10 layouts, YAY! for kits :) This following layouts are created with the Memory Workshop February kit featuring Bo0Bunny papers. I still have a bunch of supplies from this kit to do more with.

Also on almost every layout I used my new cricut cartridge "songbird" which has a fabulous font in my opinion :)

And look mom! I used purple!

These layouts were created with the Just Cre8 January 2009 kit featuring Crate papers' Prudence collection. Some of my favorite colors are in this kit. So much fun to work with.

The new EK Success large scallop punch that I got from Srapshotz...love this border punch :)

these chipboard dillweed shapes are from Riff Raff designs and are so cool!

using the Just Cre8 kit I also made a mini album with the 7 gypsies acrylic tag album. Ron was baptized this past summer and I wanted to scrapbook the occasion.

all my photos loaded backwards... but I've left space for Ron to journal.

can I get some help?

Can get your vote as to your top 3 layouts? Each layout has a letter in the caption so you can easily vote. Thanks so much!

in honor of Valentine's Day

my dayhome kids and I made heart shaped cookies. This is my brownie cookie recipe with a twist...peanut butter chips & chocolate chips instead of straight chocolate. Now I need to avoid these darn things :P

just a quick one from the weekend

We spent most of the weekend home due to the boys being sick. Managed to head out for a walk Sunday morning in the hopes of getting some fresh air (ie not sickie air) for my kids when I managed to catch this photo. I can't wait to scrapbook this one!

Online crop productivity

Its been a little hard to actually get to a scrapbooking crop lately so I was able to join in at an online crop at Scrap Shotz (http://www.scrapshotz.com/) this weekend. Loved being able to "scrap" with others and complete challenges. Here's what I got accomplished. This one was for a Clean Energy challenge. I'm so tickled about this layout. Its based on a box that I got Owen's first pair of Umi shoes in. Loved the color scheme and graphic look of it so I kept it. Just made with Bazzill and my cricut.

This layout was a bit more time consuming cause I dragged out my sewing machine. My mom would be so proud. The challenge was to do a patchwork denim layout. I used my 6x6 pad of Basic Grey papers, Fancy pants transperancy/chipboard, Making Memories blossoms/denim brads, my cricut, SU! cardstock and plastic flowers.

This layout was for the "knock off'" challenge. I had to do a direct lift from the gallery. I chose a layout done by Jillian and loved how this turned out. Photo of Owen is by Adrienne Ulliac. Papers are by 3 bugs in a Rug, Jenni Bowlin, bazzill cardstock, October Afternoon journalling card, SU! diecuts, Pebbles Inc. chipboard, Bo Bunny brads, Heidi Swapp ghost heart and stickles.

This layout was done for a Ruffles challenge. I used Bazzill, Bo Bunny papers and brads, SU! ribbon, Heidi Swapp flowers & ghost heart, Martha Stewart punches and stickles.

This layout was for a 80's Big is Better challenge. Sorry Dena I had to use a photo from the 80s and this is what I had. Love the mullets, eh? Scribble Scrabble papers, Bazzill, Martha Stewart punches, Scenic Route chipboard, Prima flowers (I think) Doodlebug stickers.

some craftiness going on :)

So Abby and I found this super cute idea in a scrapbooking magazine (Scrapbooks Etc.) and decided to modify it a bit for her Valentine's treats for her classmates. We made it a bit more simple than what was shown in the magazine but it totally worked and looks super cute! All you do is punch 2 scallop circles out of cardstock (I used spellbinders nesties for mine) and punch a circle out of white paper, add a cute word stamp (7 gypsies) and a heart (Stampin' Up!) use tape to adhere both scallops to the flat lollipop. Embellish with ribbon. Super easy and it makes a cute Valentine for her classmates. Best thing is I only had to buy the lollies as I had all the other supplies. Big surprise.

These portfolios uploaded backwards but you'll get the idea. I managed to get some 7 gypsies large portfolios from a scrapbooking store that was going out of business for $2/pack. I ordered 3 cause I thought "well I have 3 kids I'll do something with them" . Open the package and find out that they come 2 to a pack so now I have 6. I used up 3 and I'm not sure if I'll use the others, if anyone wants them let me know :)

So basically I altered them so that each kid could have a place (meaning I could have a place) for all those papers and stuff that are important like swimming report cards, certificates and various bits of their lives. Not saying that everything goes in there, I'm still a purger by nature. Boy that sounds bad but I can't keep everything. Too much stuff sucks the life out of my house (except in my scrapbooking room, that's sacred)

so each kid has one now, complete with their names curtisy of my cricut (winter woodland font),
their picture and some cute paper.

it was also great to use up some stash that I had laying around. Like these diecut papers, never quite knew what to do with them but had to have them. Now they are used and I'm happy :)

Ethan's portfolio includes his Yellow belt certificate from Tae Kwan Do and his Honorable Mention certificate amoung other things.

Yes, I did use my labeller that Ron got me for Christmas ;) love that he gets me.

Inside of Owen's. Not much in his yet, except his baby dedication certificate.

And just a layout that I did for the fun of it this weekend. I had made a mental note to take a photo of Owen in his crib before he outgrew it. Such a bittersweet moment, going from the crib to a real bed, moreso cause he's my last baby. Sniff, sniff.

October Afternoon papers & journalling card, SU! ribbon & cardstock, chipboard word from my stash that I have no idea where it came from.

I have actually other layouts to share but can't right now cause they are on deck for a class that I'm teaching in the next month or so. I'll post some sneakies soon.

This picture tells a story

It may not look like it but it does. It says its been so nice outside that the boys and I have been walking through our bush almost everyday. Which in turn means that *I've* been getting exercise! How can I not when I'm always pulling between 2-5 kids ;) On another note I've begun to exercise again and it feels great! Every muscle I have, and didn't know I had, is sore.

Back into the swing of things

I'm finally starting to feel like my old self again after being so sick with a bad throat/sinus infection + cough. It seemed like this sicky season hung on for a very long time. I can't believe how much energy it sucks out of you to be sick. And how much energy you seem to have once you get better :) I was very happy to head over to my sister in law's on Saturday to scrapbook. It has felt so good to get back to doing what I love to do. I brought the November Memory Workshop kit and just printed out some photos and a tool kit. Sometimes its so freeing to limit yourself to a few supplies. I did bring some extra basic cardstock for myself just in case.

Very weird to use AC thickers again. I haven't really touched them since I got into the habit of using my cricut. It does require a bit more planning of titles and such because you are limited to a certain amout of letters.

I've got so many brads of all different colors that I decided that I need to use them up more. So I accented the scallop around my journalling block (circle) The white thickers didn't come from the kit, but my stash.

I did this layout at home and I did use my cricut to cut the squiggle from the calligraphy cartridge. I put pop up adhesive behind it and cut out the label style journalling block from a rectangle. I used the Scenic Route chipboard words as my title.

Love this photo! My cousin Adrienne took it (www.photographybyadrienne.ca/blog) Loved the little onesie that Owen had on that day. It came from The Children's Place and says "Chicks dig me" :)

This photo was taken on Christmas day and shows my kids at they're typical behaviors. I just love documenting stuff like this!

Scrapping in the new year...

After being so sick and busy I've finally got a chance to scrapbook this holiday season. My monthly kits have been piling up and making me feel guilty so I figured time to bust them out. This was the October kit from the Memory Workshop. I had to scrapbook Ethan's main obsession with joke telling and basically anything humorous. I don't think that he ever starts a conversation without saying "Do you know what's funny?"

This was a photo from this past Easter. It was so great to get a photo of my mother in law and my son :) I'm totally loving the jillibean soup journalling spots (in kraft and white) such an easy way to add your journalling.

I'm a huge fan of fall photos and always seem to have an abundance of them. Loving how the glitter chipboard accents the photos. (glitter chipboard is by Pebbles Inc.)

I just picked up this cute paper from Jillibean Soup and I thought it was perfect for this oversized photo of Abby. I wanted to bring some color to the kraft and brown combo so I added this cardstock from Stampin' Up! (Tempting Turquoise) that really brings out Abby's eyes. A little bit of Prima pearls and a journalling spot to finish up. I added some butterfly punches (Martha Stewart and Cuttlebug)

In an effort to use my cuttlebug embossing folders more I added a strip of embossed paper (houndstooth) as a mat for my photo. This papers are from the September Memory Workshop kit. I had to change the alphabet stickers because the color wasn't right so I colored them in. The photo was taken by my cousin Adrienne (www.photographybyadrienne.ca/blog)

Same kit but I wanted to document a part of my daily routine that was very important to me :)

This photo just makes me smile. Its crazy hard to get a good photo of my 3 kids so I take what I can get. I really liked this kit, the colors were ones that I found easy to work with.

Happy New Year! & my word for the year

New Years' is typically a time to make resolutions and start fresh in many ways. Ali Edwards has started this one little word thing a few years ago and I've spent the last couple of days trying to decide on what my word should be. There were so many potential words, I mean come on the English languge is amazing. But I've decided on the word INSPRIRED. I know as a scrapbooker most people would say its just an easy one to to but let me explain.

This year I want
to be insprired to learn more
be insprired to teach more (to the children & adults around me)
be insprired keep things simple
be insprired to step out of my comfort zone more often
be insprired to tell more stories and record my memories
be insprired to be in the moment more
be insprired to reduce my clutter and resuse my stash
be insprired to use more wisdom

Parent gifts

I had a fun inspiration when I saw the new Stampin' Up! catalogue that showcased this cool background stamp. One side it is a blank weekly planner and the other side is a to do list. I had been taking pictures of my kids that I babysit so I thought I'd make a weekly planner for each of the moms. I also did one for Ethan's teacher. I added photos into the planners at various intervals. Using my bind it all machine I bound the stamped pages and photos then I decorated the outer covers. I'm super happy about the project however after stamping those images 416 times I'm kind of tired of the stamp ;)

a tiny update

Just thought that I'd post a quick update during the first quiet moment that I've had in a long while. Its the same story here, lots of Christmas prep and just general chaos! Between concerts, wrapping presents and still working there hasn't been much down time for me. Hence being sick again. I've been keeping up with my Dec. daily book and that's been such a cool experience for me, kind of like a slice of life scrapbooking project. I'm more of an everday scrapbooker as opposed to an event type of one so this has been totally me. I plan on doing it next year as well although I'd like to complete to book way before the first of Dec. not just hours before Dec. starts.

I'm sort of done with most of my Christmas prep (except the cards! ack!) that will be finished this afternoon hopefully. I'm so happy that I'm not hosting any get togethers this year. Last year was quite stressful, especially with a fractured nose and concussion. This year I plan to just be in the moment and of course take pictures. Speaking of pictures I grabbed a borrowed point & shoot to take shopping with me yesterday (for my Dec. daily of course!) and I'm so bummed about the pictures! They are all grainy and awful! At one point I was hoping to get a nice little p&s to keep in my purse but I don't think so! I'll stick to my big camera and just know I'll get good photos :)

I'm hearing the stirrings of a little monkey so quiet time is over. I plan on posting the photos from my Dec. daily soon.

Our Gingerbread creation

this was our, and I use that term lightly, project for the 1st of December. My little dayhome kids did almost all the work. I glued the structures together and they did everything else. They loved it and the funny thing is the 2 year old had a longer attention span than the 4 year olds :)

The cool thing is that we won 2nd place at the Festival de Noel :) I'm so proud of my boys!

Days 2 through 6

We've sure had a rough week so far. Between Owen getting with a cold and an eye infection, Ron still being sick, me possibly having strep (and the whole fainting thing) Ethan is now starting. Poor Abby is the lone one standing right now. So without further adieu...my December days 2 to 6. This was a page about Owen's meds and the dvd I bought him to make me feel better. Poor little guy glares at me after we administer the eye drops. Not that I blame him.

This page is about my last minute struggle to get my projects completed for the Festival de Noel. I didn't get everything done that I wanted to but still managed to complete 3 projects.

Here's the reason that my projects didn't get finished. The night of the 3rd I got a high fever and went to be early. About 3:30 or 3:45 am Dec. 4th I got up to take some tylenol and the next thing I knew I was lying on the floor in the kitchen. I tentively sat up and I couldn't figure out why my nose was running. Turns out it was bleeding like crazy. A little back story, last year on Dec. 23 I fainted twice after being extremely sick with the stomach flu and hit my nose, fractured it and got a mild concussion. Never had a bleeding nose with that. So this year when I was bleeding like crazy I called Ron and he came and helped me clean up, lay down, drink some water then helped me with a bath cause I bled all over the place. Then we stayed up from 4am on because he was worried that I might have a concussion again. Needless to say I'm feeling better, sore in places, like my eyebrow (??) but now I possibly have strep. Whole nother story. So I took a picture of my poor nose which I fear may never be the same.

This page is all about the Festival de Noel. I had so many cute pictures that I couldn't decide on which one to use so I put 6 in a little vellum envelope that I had. We did very well at the Festival. My dayhome kids placed 2nd for their category, I placed 1st for my wreath and my nativity scene and 2nd for my card. Abby placed 2nd for her gingerbread cookie and Ethan placed 5th for his. I would have loved to have had more enteries but see the previous page ;)

Day 6 involved a whole lotta stamping. If I never stamp with stazon again it will be too soon. I'm in the middle of my great idea for Christmas and once again I'm leaving it to the last minute. Due next Friday of course. So yesterday afternoon while watching season 2 of the Big Bang Theory I stamped 416 images.

Dec. Daily update

I did day 1 yesterday :) sorry I can't show it cause it has picutures of my dayhome kids. I we worked on our Gingerbread creation for the Festival de Noel and it turned out so cool! The boys really got into it and surprisingly the 2 year old had the longest attention span for decorating (course that could have something to do with the chocolate chips he snuck) I printed out 2 photos for my Dec. daily page 1 (2x3 size) and added my journalling. After the festival I'll post a photo of our creation. All I can say is that a hot glue gun was a life saver for building our structures. It made it so much stronger and with little hands not being that careful we only had one roof come off which was quickly fixed.