Sketch #23

It is time for the Sketchabilities reveal!





I have a difficult time using flowers so instead of using those as the sketch suggested, I decided to try my hand at layering other embellishments. My papers and a number of the accents are from last month's WIP kit. Many of the stickers are from OA, JB butterflies. The journaling tag is also from WIP which I stitched and then hid behind the photo. I like being able to journaling special notes without them being out in the open for everyone to read -- here the picture and title really speak for itself so no need to write about the event "out in the open". Later when my daughter looks through her album, she will be able to pull out the page and read a little something special about who she was at that moment.

Sneak peak

The latest Sketchabilities reveal is only a few days away (Aug 30). Be sure to check it out!!

Follow My Lead

Two posts in one day, I am on a roll! Given the rainy weather, I was able to hole up for a few hours and scrap a bit. I just couldn't resist printing out a few of the pixs from our weekend back home. The new Togetherness papers from Cosmo Cricket were perfect. (These papers were also part of the latest WIP Kit.) I love the whimsy of the clouds and butterflies. I tried something a bit new and cut out a few clouds, misted a background sheet, embroidered the edges, and used the cut outs as my journaling spots. It took longer than I expected it to but I think the end result was worth it.



The journaling reads: You are ready to take on teh world now that you are five years old! It's funny, I notice a new confidence in you; a take charge approach in your actions...and how long since you turned five and are no longer a "baby"? Oh, less than a few hours :) No more following Noah and Hannah, it is time for you to fly -- lead the way darling!

Trip of a Lifetime

Ok, so it wasn't really the "Trip of a Lifetime" but our annual excursion to my hometown will certainly be one we will remember for awhile. I grew up in the Northwest corner of Pennsylvania -- about a 6 hour drive from where I live today. It is not a fun drive, it is 2/3 interstate and 1/3 back country roads. We try to either leave at night or break-up the drive b/c as you can imagine, having three young children cooped up in a car for six hours is no fun. Well, this year, we left after work on Friday. About half way into our Friday night leg of the journey, we heard a strange noise, pulled over on the interstate, and discovered this....

(if you can't tell what that is, it is a FLAT TIRE).

Luckily the kids hadn't fallen asleep yet, so they were happy to have the "excitement". I don't think the girls thought there was anything more exciting than watching the tow truck driver change the tire. They were most upset that we wouldn't let them get out of the car --- yeah, like I am going to let them out on a highway at 9:00 at night with cars zooming past at 85mph!

(I do believe I scared the daylights out of the tow guy when he was under the car here getting the spare when my flash went off -- apparantly normal folks don't take pictures on the interstate, in the dark, when they have a flat. Really?)

As it turns out, it got a little more exciting for them when the state trooper stopped to yell at daddy for not calling 911. Did you know that if you get a flat tire on the interstate that you are supposed to call 911 before calling anyone? I had no idea, we called AAA and that was that. Who knew a flat could be considered an "emergency"?!?
In the end, we were back on the road within an hour and only fretted about the possibility of getting stuck again for the duration of the trip :) We had a very nice visit with the family. We fit in 4 wheelin', a Corn Festival with games, petting zoo, and corn maze, horseback riding, and a b-day celebration. Plenty of visiting with the grandparents (and greats) and a safe and uneventful drive home.

In Love....

With the new WIP scrapbooking kit! I received this kit last week, and within two hours of opening it, I had already made this layout (and trust me, I am NOT a fast scrapper).



I love that Trish includes papers and embellishements from all different product manufacturers. The layout above features a LYB die cut paper and embellies from Kaiser Craft. I just adore the balloons and those envelopes!! I added a few phrases using a set of Ali Edwards stamps.

Sorry it took so long to post the layout --- it really was done early last week, I just got caught up in packing for our annual trek to my hometown in Northwest Pennsylvania. More on that tomorrow, it was certainly a trip we will remember.....

Layout inspired by this layout from Wendy McKee.

Almost Forgot....

Sunday was the 15th which means another SKETCHABILITIES reveal. Head on over and check out the amazing layouts. The DT is always full of inspiring creations!

The Sketch:



My Take:

Unhappy Memory

Do you scrapbook those "unhappy memories", moments you will never forget but aren't necessarily those that you would choose to repeat? Earlier this year, my son was bitten by a dog on his lip and face. It required a trip to the emergency room as well as a plastic surgeon b/c of the angle and location of the bite. 7 stitches later we were back home, my nerves had calmed, and being the obsessed photographer that I am, I reached for my camera. I couldn't help but take pixs knowing full well that at some point I would want to scrapbook them. Life isn't just rainbows and ice cream, in my opinion, the scrapbooks should reflect that. That said, I don't take a ton of "unhappy memory" pixs but I certainly have a few of the tantrums and the scrapped knees.

Although it isn't the happiest of subjects, I just love the way the layout came out! The Basic Grey Max & Whiskers line was perfect ...and those dog chipboards are just too cute!

Changed Again!

As you may have noticed, I changed my blog up again! I just can't seem to find a background that I am happy with. I am digitally challenged so I can't do a custom background and I don't have the time or energy to sort through all of the free stuff that is out there. I guess this will do for now...and as we all get back into the groove of school the fall leaves will be appropriate before we know it! (Although, my children don't start school until after Labor Day so we do really have a few weeks to go.)

Since we are winding down the summer, I thought it appropriate to post a few of my beach layouts. These are both from our trip(s) down to Ocean City, NJ a couple of weeks ago.

On this first one, I misted the kraft paper with some Glimmer Mist, used the outer edge of some Jillibean paper as a frame, added some BoBunny chipboard, stamped a title with my Absolute Favorite stamps from Studio Calico, and finished it up with some sand on the bottom. How cute are my girls all lovey dovey on the beach...if only they could be that way all of the time!!



I love this second layout. It is only one sheet of patterned paper, some chipboard, and a title. How easy is that??? I masked and misted the outer frame with Glimmer Mist, and used the same Bo Bunny Chipboards that I used on the first layout. Notice how I used more colorful pieces of the chipboard on this one and gave it a completely different feel from the first --- while still using the same product? I love the versatility of the Bo Bunny chips!!

Reading and Scrapping

I am an avid reader and a love of reading is one thing I have tried to stress to my children. They enjoy reading but summer is hard. They go to camp 9 - 5 every day and are so tired come bed time. However, Barnes and Noble, Commerce Bank, and our library have made it easy to get my kids to read no matter what.

Barnes and Noble gives every child that reads at least 8 books (any 8 books) a free book at the end of the summer. All you have to do is fill out the form found here and your child can grab a free book from a selection they provide. We went and collected our free books today.
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Commerce Bank, for those of you in the NE, will put $10 in your child's savings acct if your child reads 10 books. We still have to fill out our forms but you can find them on their website.

Lastly, our local library gives kids a free spin on the "prize" wheel for every 300 minutes they read during the summer. I don't know what kind of prizes they give out but I do know my son has been logging his minutes all summer on their website and he was so excited when he got a message saying he could stop in to spin the wheel! Maybe your library has a similar program? It is certainly worth checking out!


Now, on to scrapping....I am taking my first online scrapbook class. I wasn't sure how I would like it but this one, Sketchbook2, is fabulous!! Kelly Purkey is amazing and I love that I get a pdf file 3x a week that I can work with at my own pace. I have only had a chance to work with one of the 3 sketches I have received so far but I have the pdf files printed and will be able to use them whenever I get a free moment in which to scrap. As it turns out, I was more inspired with one of the designer's takes on the sketch and ended up using her layout (Jenn Olsen's) as my springboard.



MME and SC papers. SC stamps. Smooches ink

You Make me Smile

I promised to share some layouts that I did while away at CKC but here it is almost a week later and I have yet to post anything. The weekdays just seem to get away from me. I did manage to unpack (mostly) and clear off my scrap desk in anticipation of posting and scrapping. But as you can tell, that's as far as it got....

Anyway, here is the first of many layouts I will share. I put some more of my Technique Tuesday tiles to use. I think I may own every shape they make! I adore them but seem to forget that I have them. They are so easy to use -- you can ink them, mist them, cover them with patterned paper, use them plain. Here I inked one with chalk ink and then stamped on it, the outer one I misted and then painted with some smooch ink. The patterned paper is Fancy Pants -- it was already swirled, all I did was add the two word stamps from Ali Edwards. I painted the stamp with Smooch ink rather than using an ink pad. The smooch makes it look more like a foam stamped image.

Sketchabilities #21

Back from CKC and am EXHAUSTED!! My girlfriends and I headed out on Wednesday and I just got back this morning. There is nothing like four days of scrapping and shopping with some great girls!! Because I was away, my Sketchabilities post is a little overdue....I hope you will head on over and check out everyone's amazing layouts!! They are so inspiring! When I first saw this sketch I wasn't sure what to do....I had never done anything quite like this. I must say though, after my initial hesitation, I was thrilled with the result. What do you think?





Keep checking back...I'll be posting some of the many layouts I did while at CKC this week! 24 completed and 9 waiting finishing touches....quite a productive weekend!