Off to CK - Valley Forge!!

I may not have been invited to the big show, aka CHA, but I am off to CK tomorrow. Be sure to check out the Sketchabilities reveal while I am away! I will post my layout here as soon as I return. In the meantime, here is a layout I did earlier this summer. It was hard to get a good picture since there is so much dimension to this one! I just love that dressform cut out with my cricut. My daughter is such a goofball!!

Only 40 complete

100 layouts between Memorial Day and Labor Day...was I insane? Last summer I completed close to 150 but this year I guess I am just busier....this layout here is #40. I love the muted colors and the browns of the Girls' Paperie papers with these pictures. They just give it a nice library/music room type of feel.



Ok, so back to the 100 layout before summer's end. My saving grace and the one shot I have at reaching the goal....CKC - Valley Forge. It is only a week away!! I will spend 3 solid days scrapping (and shopping of course). I already have my bags packed and am ready to head out --- now to arrange all of the babysitter coverage my husband will need....

Quick and Easy

Whipped this layout together late last night. It was so easy and with these Echo Park papers and stickers, it came together so quickly!



Did you notice the shadows in the picture of the layout? I didn't even realize they were there until I went to resize for posting. Oops. Those are not there in real life although they do kind of look cool don't you think? I took the picture with light coming in the window at an angle and all of those clouds and the sun are all pop dotted to add dimension...which caused the shadowing.

Sketchabilities Reveal #20

My first sketch reveal as a design team member is up at Sketchabilities. Go check it out! The design team did a fantastic job!! So much inspiration!





I loved that this was a multi-photo sketch. As you can see from my blog, I always have a ton of sports photos. This was a great sketch to highlight a few of those. The papers are all Jenni Bowlin -- don't you just adore that sun paper??? The bracket paper and the sun were all one sheet, so I cut the sun out and placed my photos over the empty spot on the bracket portion....ingenious. That paper is one of my faves. I had to buy it in duplicate I liked it so much so look for it again on another post :)

Whittling down

I am making my way through some of the kids' sports pictures...namely soccer and baseball. It is hard b/c I just have so many and I am TERRIBLE at sorting through and printing only a couple. I tend to print everything and then find myself with stacks and stacks of pictures that I like of essentially the same thing. It is just easier for me to pick and choose when I have the pictures in front of me.

This layout is based on a sketch from Becky Fleck. As soon as I saw the banner in her sketch, I immediately thought "sports layout". Of course, as I got about 1/2 way through the layout, I realized how similar it was to a layout I created last year based on a sketch for a Studio Calico challenge. Oh well, two different years, two different albums.



Last year's layout:

Caught the Bug

Or should I say butterfly?! Butterflies are all the rage in scrapbooking and have been for some time now. There are stickers and rub-ons, chipboards, diecuts and punches, I myself must have a hundred butterflies in my stash. Well, I finally put some to use. Inspired by at least a dozen different people, since these frames and doilies are quite popular right now as well....



It is a $7 frame from Michael's. I popped the glass out so that I could add dimension to each of the three frames. Papers are Pink Paislee and Jillibean Soup. Doilies are Martha Stewart. The large butterflies were cut with my cricut (Give a Hoot). Jenni Bowlin butterfly stickers and push pins. October Afternoon Love sticker and American Craft stamp.

Very, very easy to make and look will wonderful in my living room!

Taking Control - warning TONS of pixs

Before I got married and had children, back in the days of film cameras, I loved photography. I took classes at the art institute and would spend my weekends roaming the city in search of the perfect picture and then spend hours upon hours in the dark room. I LOVED IT!! Then life took over as did the ease of digital photography. I bought a nice camera but only used it in Auto mode. I have decided enough -- I am determined to learn how to use my camera. No more relying solely on Auto.

Yesterday, the kids and I headed out back to "play" -- them on the swing set, me with my camera. Here are a few of my fave shots. For anyone with camera knowledge...feel free to critique, I won't know how to get better without your input! None of these have had any editing done what-so-ever.

We started with some simple swinging...I am so used to "sports mode" that it was difficult to find the right settings to capture the movement but I think I fared ok.



Next, we moved to jumping off of the swing. The two older kids insisted I get pixs of them in teh air...who was I to argue? This first one isn't perfect by any means but I liked that N's face is in focus (and intense) where the rest of his body is a bit blurred.


These ones are more focused shots....not good shots of my kids mind you but at least I figured out how to freeze them in the frame without blur.




Then I had to go and get some simple shots of S. She is quite photogenic when she wants to be!! I love the warmth of these pixs (had set the AWB to cloudy)....




That was a lot of pixs, I know. I will share more scrap stuff tomorrow -- did a layout tonight but ironically, too lazy to take a picture.

Went to Market

Three or four weeks ago, we had one of those crazy weeks. It seems like we just ALWAYS running. Well, I decided to make a layout to catch the craziness of that week. This little piggy (S) graduated pre-school, these little piggys (H&S) had multiple gymnastics shows, and this little piggy (N) played in the all-star game. Very simple layout but left plenty of space for journaling and was able to get a bunch of unrelated pixs, all cut from basic 4x6 prints, together on one layout.



October Afternoon papers

More Baseball

Another weekend spent at the ball fields...these baseball pictures just keep piling up! I must start going to games WITHOUT my camera!! But luckily there is are a ton of fabulous sketches out there that are just screaming for sports pixs. This sketch by Julie Bonner was just perfect for one of Noah's first pitching pictures. I am always so inspired when I read Julie's blog and was THRILLED when she posted this sketch the other day. I believe it is a sketch for Magpie Kit Club if you want to go check it out....


I used some old Cosmo papers as well as a few new ones and a whole bunch of buttons (yet somehow the canister of buttons still looks full -- one more thing that I just have too many of!).



I also sat down this evening and made this layout....Studio Calico papers. These pictures are a few months old and not the best shots but it was her first lost tooth. That in itself is a moment that must be remembered and scrapped...but then the night after the tooth fairy visited for that tooth, Hannah left notes under both her pillow and her little sister's (which are hidden behind the green paper, and pictured in the top left corner). The journaling around the outer edge reads: "You are quite an enterprising young girl. After losing your first tooth, you left notes for the tooth fairy under you pillow as well as Sarah's to see if you could trick her into bringing you more money! One read "I lost a tooth biting an apple and can't find it." The other: "I lost a tooth in a fight." Alas, although amused, the tooth fairy was not fooled. :) "



She certainly makes me laugh that one (and of course scream sometimes) but what are kids for?!?? Love them to death!!

Happy (belated) 4th!

Happy 4th of July! I am a day late, I know but yesterday was just too busy to get online for any lenth of time! We had a baseball game in the morning and then headed to a friends BBQ and off to fireworks! It was MUCH too hot here at 100 degrees but we survived...barely. I think we are all about 5 lbs lighter today than yesterday, and my kids certainly don't need to be losing any weight!

This morning was the big 4th of July parade -- yes, even the parade was a day late. My favorite part was the Mummers...love seeing all of their crazy costumes but man they have to be hot!!



Luckily we sent the boys over early to save spots in the shade. It is again in the high 90's. But, despite the heat, the kids enjoyed the parade...of course I think for them it is all about the candy! (note to self: must get pixs of the candy throwing next year).




Can you tell I got a fancy new camera? Probably not, huh? I am trying to play around and actually use some manual settings. I got this shot last night...complete fluke and tried and tried to recreate it but couldn't figure out how. Definitely need some more practice!

Priorities amidst the madness

How do other working parents, with very active children, set priorities? I feel like it is a constant struggle. My husband and I make a conscious effort to make our children our top priority but what parent doesn't? What I am really asking is how do you juggle that priority while maintaining your own identity? We are constantly on the run, going from one activity to another, which our children love -- as do I! But there is also a long long list of things I want to do for myself, and that does NOT include the grocery shopping and cleaning. I am talking about wanting to learn more about photography, scrapbooking all of my photos, reading that stack of books that are collecting dust on my beside table, trying some new recipes, etc. Each day I start with the best of intentions. My goal after a long day at work is to head home, spend some quality time with the kids (ask about their camp day, play, ignore the pile of dirty dishes in the sink....), and find some time for "MY" things but when I find the time for "MY" things, I am just too tired. So in the end, I do very little of "MY" things. --- My husband may disagree with that last statement. I do scrap ALOT but never as much as I would like.

Do I just accept that "MY" things will need to wait until my kids are a bit older? I don't think I should need to. I think my kids should see that I am more than just their mom --- that I have interests outside of car pool, packing lunches, and kissing boo-boos.

I am going to set a goal for July. I am going to get my children involved in "MY" things. They periodically come in and do arts and crafts with me while I scrap but I think we need to do more of "MY" things together. I am going to set aside an hour each weekend to take my daughter with me while I test out new Photo techniques...she has a camera as well, she can play along. Who knows, it could turn out that she is a better photographer than I'll ever be! I am going to sit and read wtih my son. He reads most nights before bed but now with camp, he is exhausted come reading time and has skipped many a night. He and I will sit for a half an hour and read together. We can then sit and talk about what we liked about our books. My littlest one and I can test a new recipe each weekend. I love to bake in particular and what little girl doesn't like to help "lick the spoon" -- as well as crack some eggs and run the mixer?

These are my priorities and goals.......wish me luck!