International Scrapbook Day

Happy Saturday everyone!! I hope you all had a fabulous week.

Mine was very hectic as Chris was away and I had taxi duty for all Charlotte's activities. Combined with mine, I was in the car way too much!!

Today I had a chance to complete some challenges for International Scrapbook Day. I have not scrapbooked in I don't know how long and it was kind of fun to step away from card making and create with photos.

For my first page, I used the sketch from Scrapbook & Cards Today as the inspiration. It was a double page sketch but I only used the left half.

Here is the sketch that I used:

For the second page I created, I used the page from Scrapbook & Cards Today as my inspiration. I scrapped a few of the photos from our California trip that we took this past summer. It seems so long ago!!

I used a TON of stuff from my stash. I decided today that I am not allowed to buy any more paper. I have so much patterned paper and I hardly ever use it!!

For my third page, I used sketch from the Thermoweb blog as my inspiration.

Can you see a theme here? I LOVE sketches!!

I did a messy technique here with Ken Oliver Color Burst and a Prima Stencil to match the photo. Charlotte did a Black Light Run and was COVERED in junk when she came home.

For my last page, I used yet another sketch to create a page about my very naughty dog!! Here is the sketch I used:

Here is my page:

I have to admit that this is my favorite!! It is clean but I got to use stickers and die cuts to complete it.

That is all from me tonight. Thank you for taking the time to look!!

Supplies:
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4

Creative Timing

Hello everyone!! I hope life is treating you all well. It has been one quick month here. I cannot believe it will be Memorial Day tomorrow. I have about 22 more days of work and then will be out for the summer. I cannot wait!!

We spent the day yesterday planting flowers and our vegetable garden. No photos right now. I always hate what my pots look like when I first plant them. They are so bare!! It has been a beautiful weekend-in the 70's, no humidity. Perfect for being outside.

This morning Chris, Charlotte and I went to Foxwoods Casino to check out the new outlet mall there. This is not a place I would go myself or even with a friend-it would be very dangerous. Eating, gambling AND shopping is a very bad combination for me. I like to do all three!!! We would be broke after I got done. Charlotte was able to find a bunch of things for herself at this mall. Charlotte had a bit of a growth spurt this year and could not wear any of the tops she had bought last summer. We never have time to shop together so it was nice for her to pick out things instead of me picking stuff out, bringing them home for her approval and then bringing back what she does not like. However, since we do not have a lot of time to shop, this is how we have to do it most of the time. Chris just hung out today, holding the bags and watching us spend. After, we had lunch at Junior's in the casino. Such a nice outing.

Today I am sharing a layout and a card that I created. I have not been in my craft room all that much, with the exception of putting away purchases that I SHOULD NOT have made. Once June hits, I do not have a paycheck coming in for a couple months so any kind of shopping will not be going on. I am hoping to create a lot of things with what I have.

The first project I am sharing is a scrapbook page of Charlotte. She had just gotten a hair cut, highlighted and a strip of her hair colored pink. This is not something we have done since. I was trying to get her to leave her hair down more by getting her hair styled but it did not work.

(Supplies)

I had fun layering a bunch of products on this. I usually plan my pages to death but for this, I just layered pieces of patterned paper, die cuts and also did a bit of stamping at the bottom. I just noticed that the "L" in the title is lower case and the rest is upper case. This is because I did not have any more "L's" on my sticker sheet. Sometimes you have to improvise! For a complete list of supplies, please access the link above.

The second project I am sharing is a birthday card. For some reason I am obsessed right now with making them. Not sure why but right now cup cake images are some of my favorite-in stamping and in real life. Who can resist a delicious home made cup cake? Not me!

I used a stencil and some green ink to create the polka dot background. The strips of paper were just scraps I had that matched the yummy cup cakes from Paper Trey Ink's "Baker's Dozen" set. I have to say that this cup cake set is one of my favorites. There are so many yummy images to color in!!

I used some glossy accents on the rose, strawberry and cherry, as well as clear Wink of Stella on the cup cake wrappers. Hard to see from this photo.

I hope everyone is having a fabulous holiday and enjoying themselves. I thank you for taking the time to stop by!!

Supplies for Birthday Card:

Stamps-Paper Trey Ink

Paper-Stamper's Select White by Paper Trey Ink, Scraps

Ink-Memento "Tuxedo Black" and Hero Arts "Soft Green"

Dies-My Favorite Things (circle) and Paper Trey Ink (cupcakes)

Other-Sequins, Glossy Accents, Wink of Stella, Doodlebug Designs Twine "Bubblegum," Foam Adhesive, Big Shot

What a Long Month!!

March has kicked my butt. I have not posted in two weeks and this is not due to my lack of creativity. In fact, life has caught up with me. I have had to make a lot of choices and unfortunately, blogging has been on the back burner. 

My husband has traveled every week this month, making me the only parent at home. This would be easy if my fourteen-year-old was not being, well, a teen-age girl. I miss the little girl who LOVED to be with her mother and had the sweetest little giggle. In her place is a moody teen that does what she pleases and thinks I know NOTHING. Char's grades have not been stellar because of her lack of passing in her homework that I KNOW SHE HAS DONE. Who does that? This is when I wish my mother was still alive because I would be buying her presents like mad. She deserves an award for having had to put up with her four children. Each one of us gave her all the gray hairs that she dyed faithfully every month. I wish I could pick her brain right now for some ideas. Sigh. I know this stage will pass but it has been a tough.

To deal with stress I have chosen to get to the gym as much as I can. I hate to exercise but it really helps my brain. I recommend this to anyone that is dealing with a lot of stress. Endorphins rule!!

On top of that, my youngest sister broke her ankle and I have tried to be there for her. It isn't a heck of a lot because she lives twenty minutes away but I have done what I could. I feel bad that it has not been more. 

In between all this, I have been trying to keep up with all your lovely blogs using Bloglovin. Some days are better then others and I apologize if I have missed anything. 

I have been trying to get back into scrapbooking this month. It comes and goes for me. Right now we are without  a printer and it is killing me. I like to journal and though I can hand write some of it, often it is too lengthy for me to do so. I was able to do two pages about our trip to Europe this past summer. They are just a snapshot, literally, of two events. 

My daughter HATES this photo below but it sums up something we did while in London. Please do not judge my lovely (not!) printing.

(Supplies)

I cannot believe I am even posting this second page. As a rule, I do not like having my photo taken. However, I have made a conscious effort throughout Charlotte's life to make sure that I do get in the photos. I often do not like them because I think I am fat, or my hair is messy, or I am just not feeling it but I do it so she will have them to look at when I am no longer around. 

I lost my mother at 23 and I have very few photos of her. My mother did not like to have her picture taken. Especially the last five years of her life after she lost her eye due to cancer. I do not want my daughter to go through her scrapbooks and only see photos of herself. 

On the page below, Charlotte took the photo with my I-phone. It is of Chris and I with the Eiffel Tower in the background. Is it the best? No. Sometimes it isn't perfection that counts.

(Supplies)

That is all for today. I will not bore you any longer. I hope you have a great week!!

Memory Keeping

Hello friends. Today was a brisk but sunny New England day. I actually like these kind of days-they wake me up. If I get sleepy at work, I just walk through a hall where I need to go outside and I am instantly awake. Fresh, cold air will do that to you.

Today I thought I would share a few scrapbook pages with you. I rarely share them as Charlotte does not like me to upload them to my blog for some reason. She is at the self conscious age of 14 and thinks all photos of her are hideous.

I tend to scrap what I like and not chronologically. This is one reason I have never gotten into Project Life or done a December Daily album. Right now, Char is at an age where she dislikes having her photo taken so she rarely lets me take her picture. If she does, she is making a face or not looking at the camera. My life is not one that I would chronicle, either. It is rather boring and the day to day stuff is just not that interesting. Instead, I have been busy scrapping Charlotte's earlier photos because she was so much nicer to be around then. (Did I just write that?)

(Page Supplies)

I have kind of developed "my style" over the years, which seems like it is everyone's style lately. I like paper layering and some embellishments but not a ton. I also like misting and have been adding more of my own writing to my pages. My mother died when I was 23 and I only have a few pieces of her writing. I cherish that. I figure that when I am gone, Charlotte might too.

 (Page Supplies)

Sometimes I use pre-made die cuts that are meant for a collection. Sometimes I choose to use my Big Shot and dies, as well as pre-made embellishments for a page. It all depends on what mood I am in. I mix supplies from companies and do not really have a favorite. I am a paper hoarder and have a supply that could last me YEARS.

(Page Supplies)

I love the feel of paper and cutting it up into pieces or different shapes. I do not ever think I could get into digital scrapbooking, though I do love printable products. I feel like a kid again, playing with punches or adhering a sticker.

(Page Supplies)

I am hoping that as Charlotte gets older, she appreciates the gift I have given her by documenting her life this way.

I appreciate you taking the time to stop by my blog today. I hope you enjoyed the small glimpse into my creative process.

Lawn Fawn "Monster Mash" Fun

Hello everyone!! Long time, no post. I have not been in the crafting mood as of late. Not sure why since I have new goodies to play with. However, my mojo has been on the fritz. Don't you hate when that happens?

I did create two projects with the Lawn Fawn "Monster Mash" sets stamp and die set. One project I totally LOVE, the other-not so much. However, I had fun making both so that is what counts.

My first project is a scrapbook layout that I created. This is my daughter five years ago on Halloween. I cannot believe how fast time has flown. She is thirteen this year and insists that she is not going out trick or treating so she isn't getting a costume.

I had a TON of fun creating this page. I started by misting the background with different mist sprays and layered a bunch of different patterned papers before placing the photo on top. I then embellished with stickers and the "Monster Mash" stamps that I colored in using Copic markers.

(Supply List)

My second project using the Lawn Fawn set was a Christmas tag. I REALLY want to use these on Christmas projects for some reason. I had this brilliant idea to color some of the monsters in green and then layer them over each other like a Christmas tree.

Aren't they cute? I LOVE how the coloring came out on each of these. I added some Stickles to jazz them up too. However, below is how the shaker tag actually came out.

Extremely disappointing! You can only see the big one eyed monster peeking out through the sequins. Oh well. Experiments are not always going to come out but at least I tried!

(Supply List)

Well, that is all for tonight. I thank you so much for stopping by to visit me. Have a great night!!

Layout Tuesday

Today I thought I would share a couple of layouts I created. 

First is of Charlotte at Chinese Camp in summer of 2013. Charlotte was so mad that I put her in this camp last summer. She told me I just "wanted to ruin her summer." She takes Chinese at school and I thought this would be a great opportunity for her to have confidence in her ability to read, write and speak Chinese better. (In full disclosure, I also wanted a month off. The camp was from 9-3 everyday. Who wouldn't want that time to themselves?) "It is too much like school!" is what she accused me of the first day I dropped her off. 

However, after the first few days, she admitted to me that she was glad that I signed her up. She LOVED it. They had Chinese food for lunch every day, she learned about the Chinese culture and on the day the photo on the layout was taken, the Chinese Opera visited the camp. They performed an opera and then made up the campers faces, as well as let them try on the costumes. Isn't that a fabulous experience? I wish I could have gone to a camp like this!!

(Supplies)

I had a lot of fun using Simple Stories "Daily Grind" products on here. I also decided that I wanted to do the journaling in an unusual way. I used part of an arrow stamp to create the journaling lines. It is not meant to be perfect either, since the sides are tilted.

My second page is of Charlotte at her recital two years ago. We go to a studio that only has recitals every two years. Thank goodness!! The dance owner is a witch during these years and has really high expectations of the kids. I think that is good but I am afraid of her!! Charlotte tells me that I am as strict and so it doesn't bother her. I am not sure if I should take that as a compliment or not.

(Supplies)

I chose to use some masking with black ink and a Studio Calico template behind the photos. I also used some Project Life cards. These are the perfect size to embellish a page. I broke out the stickers too, something I don't usually use on pages. I should, though, because they make a layout come together so quick.

Thank you for stopping by. Have a great night!!

Nora

A Few Scrapbook Pages

Kind of a lazy Sunday this week. I have been up to my eyeballs in Valentine projects as of late. I think I am done with pink and red for a while!!

I thought I would share a few layouts with you today rather then my usual cards. I had fun using Doodlebug products on the layout below. Here is the link for specific supplies. I am too lazy to go through it all today.

I created this page about my daughter turning thirteen. I am not sure who is going to make it through this age-her or me. I really do not know how my mother did it with four kids, three being girls. I also know I was TOUGH at this age. Char is a lot better then I was but she still is testing limits!!

On my second page, I had fun using sequins around the edge of my photos. I use these all the time on my cards so I thought it would be fun to use on a layout too.

(Click here for supplies.)
Char is turning eleven in these photos. Notice the glasses and the braces in the first photo? Both are gone! She decided on contacts that summer and her braces came off this past summer. Time sure is flying!!

(Click here for supplies)
This last page that I am sharing is not my favorite but it is a memorable moment. The story is all about Char's first Valentine gift from a boy. Of course, I don't have a date on this because I never documented it. Great mother!! I "think" this was from sixth grade? I cannot remember in my old age.

Thanks for visiting today. Have a great night!!

Nora

MME July Sketch Challenge

I hope everyone's weather is a bit better then ours. I am surviving the heat by staying inside because it is too hot to do anything else. When pool water is 85 degrees, air conditioning is the only solution.

Today I want to share with you a layout I created for a challenge over at My Mind's Eye's blog. It was to scrap a layout based on the the sketch below.

Isn't it a cool sketch? I don't usually ever follow a sketch exactly but for this one I did. I chose to scrap some not-so-great silly photos of Char. I am so bad at taking photos inside and these happened to be taken at night. It was at her birthday party with her friends and she was being silly. It was nice to see her let her goofy side show!!

I used mostly My Mind's Eye Products on here, with the exception of some stamps. I had a lot of fun making it and am happy with the way it came out-even with bad photos.

Thank you for stopping by!! Stay cool!

Nora

Supplies: