Summer 2012, Almost a Wrap!

Around here, there has been a whole lotta, 

 A little bit of,

 Some neighboorhood parties,

Even happy, cooperative teenagers! (Ack!)

Now we get to have one last "Hoorah", before school starts in a couple weeks. Our family is off to a cruise! The kids are so excited. Is it sad that I am most looking forward to the photo ops and making a vacation mini-album?! LOL

I have been hoarding the Simple Stories 6x8 album for the perfect time, and this is it! I am going to use a bunch of papers from the Simple Stories "Awesome" line. 

I am off to Pinterest right now to gather some ideas and inspiration for our travel album. Guess I won't be getting much housework done today, huh? LOL

Happy

Wow! It is certainly summertime, because I haven't been on here in forever. Main reason? My kids are home, ALL DAY LONG. (yes, I am shouting! lol)


I have been scrapbooking, and keeping up with my Project Life, just can't seem to get anything blogged. How do my favorite mommy/scrapping blogs stay current when kids are home? Y'all are amazing! 


My favorite challenge blog, Color Me Scrappy has given me the perfect opportunity to catch up a bit.

The color pallette for this month was gorgeous!! And seemed to be the perfect outlet for the page I had in mind. I don't know about y'all, but I don't scrap myself very often. It feels.....I don't know.....self-indulgent or something? 

My little boy was playing with my phone, and caught this picture of me. It captured my happiness and contentment I felt at that moment perfectly. (even my 7 year old is a better photographer than I am!) I want my children to remember that their mom was a happy person. Of course I flip out, yell and threaten to sell them to the circus, but I hope they remember my smile, my sense of humor and how grateful and happy I am to be married to their dad and to be their mom.(which I said to them in my hidden journaling). 

Love, love that woodgrain paper, and I am completely obsessed with all of Studio Calico wood veeners (I may or may not have bought 6 packages...shh...don't tell my husband). I broke out my trusty Cricut (why won't that thing break so I can justify getting a Silhouette?) for my title.

Thanks for looking, and go make something pretty!

Color Me Scrappy

Color Me Scrappy is up with a new challenge. This time around we were given this beautiful pallette to work with:

Pretty, right? Well, I knew I wanted to work with a picture of my little boy, and I was a bit worried that it would come off a little "girly"

I grunged it up a bit with ink, and distressing the "jeans" type paper I used to mat the picture.

There are a few feminine elements, but overall, I think it works. And with such a cute subject, how could I go wrong? (yeah, I am THAT parent) LOL

Check out the fun ladies over at Color Me Scrappy. Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Mother's Day Inspiration

Holy cow! It is May already. Anyone else feel like time is flying by?! 


During this busy month we celebrate my mommy's birthday, my mother-in-law's birthday and of course Mother's Day. I was inspired by the talented Marcy Penner on the October Afternoon blog to make these fun "Accordian fold" cards for my 2 favorite ladies this year. I know they will love them because they feature the most beautiful, smart and talented kids in the world. (ok, we may be a bit biased! lol)

Over at the Color Me Scrappy blog, they have a new challenge up. I thought their color scheme was beautiful, which is what led me to these papers. I threw in some pink, and I am really happy with how it turned out. 

I am going to drop these in the mail today!

I am so grateful for all the wonderful inspiration that is out there. Have a blessed day and go make something pretty!

Thursday: Pictures and Words

Since I have consistently been keeping up with my Project Life album, (just not keeping up with blogging it!) I didn't find it necessary to participate in Ali's Week in the Life. But I did like the idea of delving deeply into one day. So, yesterday was the day! 

I stumbled out of bed at 6:50am for coffee, and to make my boys lunches. I usually make a salad for my big girls the night before. The high school starts at 7:15am, so they are up and gone by 6:30am, and I ain't waking up that early! lol

After everyone is off to school, it is breakfast time for me. Well....if you can call chalk breakfast! Oh well, that's what you eat when you have given birth to seven children and you have the metabolism of a slug!

After I eat, I go start my housework. I begin in the little boys room. I usually require them to make their own beds, but we were running behind this morning, so I do it for them.

Then to the kitchen where I do dishes, sweep and take out chicken to thaw for dinner. Start a load of laundry, fold and put away a load, vacuum living room, straighten up our room, and make our bed.

By now, it is 9:45am, so I go get dressed. Since I have errands to run, where I might see people I know, I put on makeup. lol 

Groceries, post office, car business, then off for a special treat.

Pedicure!!! While I like getting my toes pretty, what I LOVE is that massage chair. Bliss!!

Home, where I pay some attention to this cutie pie. Then before you know it, kiddos come home.

Evidence that they are all home. Am I the only mom who YELLS thru out the house to "Come throw your trash away!!"  Why is that so hard?!  : )

I look down and discover he has been wearing these all day! Oh, what his teachers must think of me! LOL

Everyone is allowed to watch a show on TV. Then, homework, then I kick em outside while I finish up dinner.

A quick dinner, then we are off to Sam's baseball game, (my hubby helps to coach) then Justin's drum lesson. The big girls stay home to do their hair. (that is a 2-3 hour process. Condition, blow dry, straighten....it is hard being a girl!!) The whole family is home by 9pm. Everyone finally gets in bed by 10:30pm.


It was fun to capture our day more in-depth. I took a TON more pictures, but pared them down into a manageble amount for this post. I plan on doing a multi-page insert to slip into Project Life, or maybe a mini-album to document this wonderful, ordinary day. (oh, the Simple Stories album would be cute, or even Heidi's new Memory Files!) 


Check out Ali's blog for more info on "Day in the Life". Fun stuff! 

Project Life March

I have been a bit quiet on the Project Life front here on the blog, but I have been plugging away diligently at home. I love telling our little, day to day stories.


I scrap PL in 8.5x11. I use a WRMK album, and use whatever photo sleeves I find on sale! (I always check that it is acid free) I recently came across the Martha Stewart line of office products at Staples. She has a great 4-pocket sheet proctector that I have been using alot. I love Becky Higgins products, but just could not justify buying anything, when I have such a big stash! 

Above is the left side. I cut the "Spring Break" title  from my trusty, little Cricut. I think I am still going to add a little "something". I don't know what, but it still needs something! LOL

Used bits of Dear Lizzy, and Crate paper in this week's spread. My album is caught up thru March and is already bursting! So I intentionally used a couple pictures all alone to help cut down on the bulk. I don't want to use more than 2-3 albums for the entire year. I am linking up with Jessica Turner, and her website, The Mom Creative.


Well, I have a huge to-do list for the day, so I think I will go on Pinterest for awhile to delay the inevitable! LOL

Project Life Insert

     Here is a fun little insert I did about my youngest. He says the most outrageous things sometimes and I "think" I want to remember them? LOL

I used a baseball card page protector. I printed out a 4x6 picture, then cut it to fit into the sleeves.

I love filling the little pockets. I have had (hoarded) this Crate paper pack (Toy Box Collection) for awhile.  It was great to actually USE it. What a concept!

     Sorry for the glare. It is a rainy dark day, so I had to shoot inside with the flash on. 

     The beauty of Project Life, is that you can use it anyway you want to. This was kind of a quiet week for our family, so I did not really have enough for a full 2 page spread for the week. So I got the idea to document Christian's crazy mouth!  : )

     I am thinking I will probably do this throughout the year. Highlight each of the kids with their own page. Maybe what they are watching, listening to, favorite clothes, food ect....

Project Life, Week 2 (Jan. 8-15)

This week was a little faster to put together than week 1. I imagine that it gets easier each week. You get your process down, get used to pulling out and USING your stash, picture selection goes quicker, ect..... 

(Sorry about the picture quality. I could not get a good shot today)

My twin girls (17) are obsessed with Instagram. TJ, did a little self-timer photo shoot for her profile. She is so cool. No silly camera phone, bathroom picture for her! Yay! LOL 

I thought my littlest boys were the only ones left to give me scrap-worthy, funny quotes. Alyssa,(the other twin) makes me laugh everyday. I am so happy to be doing this project, because this little conversation we had, may have never made it into a traditional layout. LOVE project life!!

I am having such a good time doing this, and loving all the support and inspiration that is out there. 

Project Life, Week 1 (Jan. 1-8)

There are some seriously BEAUTIFUL Project Life pages out there.  Just hop on Twitter or Pinterest and do a search for Project Life and be prepared to get blown away. I am just gonna concentrate on getting my album DONE. LOL!
Again, I am not doing a picture everyday. Mine will be more of an overview of our week.

My album is 8.5x11, so the page protectors I found have a little pocket on the side (approx. 2x4) that will
be perfect for fun little labels.

 As you can see, I am not going for DT level creations here! LOL, Just for "gitten er done"!

I am loving this so far. This is exactly what I want. To capture the little moments that would not make it onto a full-size layout.

Project Life

Here is the title page for my Project Life album for 2012. I am so excited to begin. I have recently lost a bit of my scrapbook "mojo" and I hope this will help jumpstart it. I had gotten into the rut of scrapping the big events, ie. birthdays, vacations ect.... I have missed alot of our little, everyday stories.

I am keeping this very loose and NOT doing a 365 project. I will tell the stories and details of our week. I look forward to USING my scrap supplies, and trying techniques on a 4x6 canvas. And most importantly, remembering the small details that make up this wonderful life.

I scrapbook to document; which in turn leads me to examine how I live my life. Here is to a new year for our family told in pictures and stories.