I splurged.....

Keenan and I went to Lexington last Sunday. While we were there we went by Half Price Books. I picked up two books from the scrapbooking section: The Amazing Page and Making the Most of Your Scrapbook Supplies. I didn't feel too badly about the purchase, since the two books only cost me about $15, at least half of what they would have cost new.

It makes me feel even better when the purchase inspires me. I took a layout from page 73 of The Amazing Page and used it to help me create this layout:



The title came from a challenge over at Challenge Masters. They posted the lyrics to "Fame", a song from a show that I must confessed I watched while it was on television. Anyway, we were to select a portion of the lyrics and use them as the title of our layout. The words, "You Ain't Seen the Best of Me Yet" just seemed to fit this layout. The papers are some leftovers from my Washington D.C. album that I created a few years back. I was searching for just the right papers when I came across a stash of about 15 pages of paper that I had used in my album. OOPS! forgot there was any paper in that bag. Oh well, it came in handy!

AND..... if you look at my layout counter, you will notice that this is layout number 9 for January! I really think I will try to get just one more layout finished before the end of the month. TEN seems like a nice round number!

Be Happy!!!

Everyone has to find something in the world that makes him or her happy.... you know, that little piece of chocolate cake, that special shopping trip to purchase that little splurge, a night out on the town. Well, one of the things that makes me most happy is, of course, scrapbooking, but it also brings me great pleasure when I see other people being happy.

As a mother, I spend a lot of time trying to make my children happy. Keenan has always been a bit of an enigma to me. He was a serious child, and now is a serious teen. Even when we go on vacation it seems difficult for him to just relax and enjoy the moment. When I saw this photo posted on Facebook by one of Keenan's classmates I HAD to scrap it! I love that smile that I see on his face, that uninhibited look of enjoyment! I only wish that I could see it more often!



My challenge to you today is to do something JUST FOR THE FUN OF IT!! It doesn't have to be a big something, just do something to BE HAPPY!! I would love for you to post a comment back here, telling me what you do, so that we can all share in your happiness.

I'm on a Roll!

Whoo Hoo! I finished another page this afternoon! (Those of you who know my daughter personally will surely understand some of the journaling...LOL!) This was done for another challenge over at Challenge Masters. We were asked to journal with a list, so I wrote a list of 10 things about my daughter that make me go, HUH???



I'm beginning to think that I should keep a running list of my stash that I use, not just a count of the pages. I REALLY dug into it for this one: 1 sheet of cardtock, 1 sheet of patterned paper, a border punch, twill tape, a question mark stamp, 7 different kinds of rubon alphas, rub on flourishes, 4 chipboard pieces, 4 paper flowers, 1 button, 1 journaling paper, 2 chipboard numbers, 1 color of ink, and 1 marker. WHEW!! I did GOOD!! If I keep this up, I might actually find a little room to add new stuff in my stash....LOL!

Another Layout DONE.....

I'm really getting back into the swing of things!

I'm loving these challenges over on Challenge Master. They are really keeping me inspired to dig through my stash and try things.

I actually finished a couple of layouts and an altered box this week, but I'll only post one.



This past Halloween there were actually 5 or 6 of us female teachers who dressed as witches. I couldn't resist getting some of us together to document it. As I started scrapping this page I really felt the need for some Halloween themed paper; the only problem was... I didn't have any. I got rid of all of my themesy type papers a while back. Luckily, I had passed some of it along to Kari. I "borrowed" from her stash with the promise that it WILL be replaced.

Nimble Fingers.....

Snow continues to fall outside, so I can't really go anywhere. No school, no shopping, .....

I am taking advantage of this opportunity to get some crafting done. I'm also working on keeping a promise that I made a few years back.

Before Glenn and I got married, I cross stitched him a Christmas stocking. Each year, that stocking has a place of honor on our mantle. A few years back I promised the kids that I would make them one too. I got Kari's cross stitched a year or two ago, but I refuse to assemble the stocking until I finish Keenan's.

I am working diligently to try to get his stocking cross stitched this year. If it keeps snowing, and I'm pretty sure I will get it done. I cross stitch while there is daylight so that my "older" eyes can see the tiny little squares on the cross stitch fabric, and I allow myself scrapbooking time while the light isn't so good.

Speaking of scrapbooking, I've noticed that my layouts are a bit more "simple" than they used to be. I think it's my way of getting the layouts finished without worrying so much about creating works of art....



This was the first time in AGES that I have used stickers on a layout! Those little cupcakes came from the Target dollar bin.

It's Been Nice Knowing All of You.....

Am I going somewhere? NO.... but when my son sees this photo on the computer, I'm not sure how he will react....LOL!

First some background.... my son is a very serious, proud to be "grown up", teenager. For several years now he has not liked having photos taken, something that is rather difficult when your mother scrapbooks. He also hates costumes. I don't think he has been in one since he was 6 or 7.

In 2010 he was helping with the BETA Club Halloween dance and the candy distribution in town, so he had no choice. He HAD to have a costume! He and I went to a couple of stores and I finally convinced him to purchase this chef's costume. When the night of the candy distribution came I had to have a photo, since I knew I might not see him in a costume again. Unfortunately for him, the camera shutter did not want to close fast enough. He stood there smiling..... smiling..... smiling..... until finally the shutter closed.

When this photo came up in my camera's view window I knew that I couldn't delete it. It was just too funny!



The layout was a natural for some old Basic Grey "Color Me Silly" papers that I found in my stash. I used another Page Maps 2 sketch as inspiration. I am LOVING those sketches!

A Change is in the Wind.....

I am feeling bright and creative this year, so I've decided to update the look of my blog a bit. (As soon as I go to the hairdresser next week, I will update my photo too. I think you will all be surprised by how much my hair has changed.)

First a report on 2010 and my scrapbook efforts. I didn't quite make either of my goals for the year. I didn't scrapbook 100 layouts and I didn't use up my stash as diligently as I had hoped.

As for this year, I'm still working on using my stash, but I don't think I'm being quite so obsessive about it. When I just let myself go and use what feels "right" for a particular layout, I tend to be more satisfied with the results.

I'm allowing myself to purchase a few things, especially things that I know will help me scrapbook more and create more. One of my first purchases for the year was the Page Maps 2 book by Becky Fleck. I always make sure to download the pdf each month with new sketches and I had purchased her first book. When I found there was a second one I HAD to add it to my scrap resource library!

I proudly present to you my FIRST layout of 2011! It was inspired by one of the sketches from Page Maps 2 and includes MOSTLY items from my stash.



I used some old Bazzill carstock for the background and stamped snowflakes with some of my Stampin Up stamps and white craft ink. The patterned paper is my only new purchase: Bo Bunny Midnight Frost, a new paper that I just HAD to buy!

My favorite element on the whole layout though, has to be the icicle stickles on the word "Snow" in the title! I LOVE itt!!