December Happenings

The start of December brings lots of memory making and therefore less time to scrap them.  So in lieu of a ton of pages, here's what we have been up to these days.

Christmas Concerts x 2 - Wyatt and Elsie were on different days this year - that was fun.  Elsie also had a ballet show on the same night as Wyatt.  Thank goodness my hubby knows to take pictures for me - though he did tell me that this picture with his teacher was his idea.  (Gosh, he looks so grown up in this picture.)

Our Elf on the Shelf - Peppermint - has been up to mischief and fun for weeks now! We are sad to see her leave next week - but we have had so much fun.  Here she is winning Uno.

Theater Under the Stars show #2 with mom - The Rockettes! This show made me miss being a drill team girl/director so much.

And finally, some scrapping. When the December Cocoa Daisy kit arrived, I was so excited I just had to play - I had this photo sort of planned for a completely different paper and then I saw this floral one and this page was born. This is much busier than my usual style but I kinda like the way the color combo works. This is actually the night that Jarad and I started dating.    

And then, back to the festivities of the season. We have been going to mom's house to decorate her tree for a few years now. She loves it and the kids think it is cool to get to do more than one tree.  Win - Win. It's fun to see the family history lesson happening with backdrop of twinkle lights and tinsel in the same house in which I grew up.

And the holiday fun continues - we volunteered again with our church's Bethlehem Village and live nativity. We helped in the activity area and yes, that is me dressed as a shepherdess. What? You don't think the leopard print is period appropriate?  I have to admit to laughing when they handed it to me.

Merry Christmas!

In Progress + a Side Project

And finally complete - here is the page about my first job. Loving the Fancy Pants paper - it's old but well suited for this project.  I used a few bits from the last Cocoa Daisy kit and some odds and ends from my stash - My Minds Eye chipboard and some Thickers.  

Found this fun single photo of me with my friend Ericka from high school. I can tell I was still using film as it had that weird exposure stuff on the top of the pic - either the first or last picture on the roll of film. Ah, the good ole days of film. I was trying to use up bits and pieces from my kit and ended up using paper from three or maybe it is four kits! Yeah! It is a strange color combo, but I kind of like it . . . 

And one night, instead of scrapping, a girlfriend came over and we made these - 24 tags for our church to put on Christmas stockings for 24 children who live in a local CPS shelter.  Karen came up with the design - she saw it on a card and figured it would be a great stand along tag.  I love that I get to make these each year and now that Karen has been helping me - it has been so much easier, not to mention way more fun!  After this picture, we topped them with yellow ribbon and they will be delivered to the volunteers Sunday and packaged on Wed.  It's a joy to give!  

Kit Wrap Up and Other Projects

Trying to stay in the habit of posting and finally figured out the easiest way to do that was part on my phone and part on keyboard - thankful for small victories.  

I have three layouts on my desk right now - this one that is all done now (picture is from when it was in progress) but the hidden journaling. It is hidden as it speaks to being severely sexually harassed at my first real job. It is going to be tough to write about, but it is clearly a defining moment in my life so I want to record it, just not for everyone to read. On the surface it will just look like a page about my first office job. Most of the products used to make this page were by Fancy Pants from my stash. And yes, I have a wonder woman obsession, hence the mug.   

No pictures yet of the other layouts. But this picture below shows all the layouts I have made in the last couple of months. The photos are from several decades so I sorted and filed them all into albums. That was a happy moment. I am really having fun getting some things scrapped from high school and college as well as current stuff. Feels like I am telling my own story which might otherwise be missing for my kids when they get older. The college photos are sorted by academic year and I am picking more for the next Cocoa Daisy kit that comes so I can keep working away on the stack.  Not sure if I will keep it up or get bored and take a break. Either way, it feels good.

One more reason I took this silly stack of layouts picture - I am really bad at realizing what I have accomplished. I think that it why I like Project Life so much - it helps me see all of the things we do as a family and all of the things I do of which I should be more aware. I am pretty hard on myself, always pushing, never satisfied, this picture and sticking it here and in my PL album keeps me grounded. 

I am wrapping up with the August - November Cocoa Daisy kits and can't wait for the December one to arrive in the mail.  

Nearly There!

So many pages to wrap up and photograph! I hope to get that done this week after I make it through the Brownie meeting on Wednesday!

Here's a few sneak peeks.  I only have about three pages of paper and some scraps left from the two most recent Cocoa Daisy Kits. And I just got my email that my kit will be coming next week - happy girl! In the meantime there are a few things to do on about 6 pages - mostly journaling.  These three are now all complete.

From San Antonio - a lone photo from Bombay Bicycle Club from senior year. This page took forever with all of those strips, but I finally found a use for those silly cut off strips!  

Ah, the Buffett concert - good times.  This one is done - just need to photograph. That is totally one of my favorite pieces of paper ever.  So happy to have it in the book.

Here is one of those last ditch effort pages to pull together just one more layout from a kit - I love these. They end up being so much fun and really simple to make cause you have so few choices. You get what you get and you don't throw a fit I guess!  And for the love of Hambly - collective sigh - those swallows. . .

Prom Night - still dancing along!

Just a quick note to say - I am making progress and that makes me super happy.  Here are the two latest ones while they were in progress on my desk. I have both of these in progress photos since I often take a picture as I am working on things to remember where I had them when I start gluing things down. I find it also helps if I want to compare how something looks in one spot or another. I have finished both of them - will photograph and post later this week (they have been added below) - but wanted to keep myself accountable and in the habit of posting.

So - this are the pictures of us leaving the house - God Bless my mother for taking so many photos - and I wonder where I get it from . . . Love that she captured my lovely shoes dyed to match - do they still do that? Such a fun thing and I remember the dye always stained my hose - ha! Hose - thank goodness I rarely wear those anymore - though I am totally a slip girl - I guess I am just old fashioned.

Here is the other sans photo as I was trying to figure out how much navy I had to throw on that pretty reddish paper. Still loving that Heidi Swapp ephemera pack - I think I am going to manage to use the entire contents of it this month - that would be a first.  Glad to find a use for that pretty transparency. Why do I tend to not use things? Must be the saver in me - or the perfectionist  - waiting for the perfect project - enough of that!

Both of these are made with my most recent Cocoa Daisy kit which I am LOVING!  

And here is the LAST page!!!!!  A few more group party pics. Finally a way to use the speech bubble paper - seems like high school is a fitting subject. Now to make that all come together. . .

Yeah, the 90's Were Kinda Awesome

So, I have decided to do a bit of a throw back month, or stint, I'm not sure what to call it.  I guess the combo of all of my physical photos being sorted by decade and me missing my daddy and granddaddy and grandmother this month, I dug out the 90's box and started sorting and found myself with some great high school prom and a complete set of college photos with which to play.  

So here it goes on what I have done so far. Most everything is from my three Cocoa Daisy kits that are sitting out (yes, three - I got swamped and had no time to play for a bit so they piled up - but I love it - they always mix and match so well) and then I have pulled in some items from my stash to round out things for color and theme.  

"Wait . . . I'm not that old am I?" - I loved this floral paper and wanted it on display on this page.  The yellow card from the cut apart sheet worked perfectly and I threw in some gold washi and gold hearts from earlier kits.  

Here is one of my desk with a two pager in progress.  I use the Mercy Tiara waxed paper trick (coolest scrapbooking hack ever BTW) for checking the placement of letters or stickers on a page. The paper is actually all from my stash but the ribbon, doily and an embellishment or two came from some kits.  I wanted to emphasize the red of my dress and the starry dreamy prom night feel hence the paper inspiration.  

Here is the left side:

Used some fabric thickers I had that were blue (anyone else hate when they use two different shades in the same package?), the stars are navy Studio Calico ones and the sparkly enamel dots are from Creative Memories.  

And the right side:

The bottom photo of the layout above is blurry but I don't care - I put it in there anyway.  It is fun to see the process of my putting on the boutineer I made myself! The vellum matches that star paper - I am glad to have finally used it!

SBS (Second Baptist School) Friends - I used a pile of the ephemera package and I love the look.  I was also shocked that I could remember everyone's name! 

Such a great "party pic" from the actual dance.  Wonder if they still do party pics? Good memories. I tried something new and added a strip down each side - very out of the norm for me, but I was tired of the usual rectangles that evening.  That feather paper is such fun but I wanted the picture to be front and center.   

I finished another but forgot to photograph it.  There will be a total of six pages of prom - a little excessive?  I don't care - I am having such fun.  It feels good to tell my story.  Elsie asked me who the guy was and if I still liked him - children are so funny.  I told her, nope, your daddy is the guy for me!

And yes, I take most of my layout photos on my filing cabinet handle.  The layout stays flat and the lighting is decent.  I don't often have the luxury of photographing during the day at this seems to work! 

So three more layouts to add to this post. One is done and two more to go . . . .maybe tonight!

Scrap Therapy

So I got some crappy news yesterday. Always makes me want to go hide somewhere, but instead I headed to my table with a kiss and a freshly poured glass of beer from my understanding husband. I finished this one - 

I had fun forcing myself to use gold and lots of bits and pieces. Funny that my husband was talking to me when I glued it down and he commented - you are covering up all of the words on that pink paper (it is Cocoa Daisy exclusive paper that says something "we all have a story to tell whether we whisper or yell" ) I told him I only wanted the color - if he only knew how long it has taken me to overcome my fear of cutting up paper!

So then I debated on what to do next.  I got two pictures out of the stack from a random pool party that I had attended in college with my old neighbors and the kids I used to babysit.  Working title is "Wait . . . I'm Not That Old - Am I?"  Gonna tell the story about babysitting them and watching them grow up over time. We still keep in touch - pretty cool. So I have it pieced together - forgot to take a picture. Hoping to finish it this week - not tonight - there are cupcakes to bake for a certain almost 8 year old. . . .

On my desk and off my desk

Well I have been in the scrap room some - just not doing a good job of letting you know that by posting here - so I am checking in with an update.  

 I decided to step back and work on some stories about me.  That lead me to the 1990's box. what I settled on what college.  I got all of the photos out of the box and started sorting them by year.  Then I did what anyone would do - I started at the beginning. 

I have 2 two-page layouts of moving in that need journaling (I am saying that so I will finish them and post them - accountability never hurt anyone!)

Here is what is on my desk.  A layout with a photo of me and my roommate Whitney. Gosh we were young. Gotta put the title on there and capture the story.  We decided to be roomates because we were the only two people going to Trinity from Second Baptist, we knew each other and we liked each other but weren't besties - all a good combo.  

And what is off my desk (and by that I mean finished!)

I was dating someone from A&M and Becky and I traveled over to College Station for a weekend trip to go dancing.  Man, I miss two stepping.

From the same era - me and my big brother.  Love this picture.  We look so much alike in it - kinda scary.

Ok - this is before college.  From middle school maybe.  But it was fun and I was missing my daddy - he passed on Nov 1 five years ago.

Will be back soon with more.  Most of these are from my two most recent Cocoa Daisy Kits.  Man I love, scrapbook supplies delivered to my door.  So cool.

So I am just going to admit it - I have have three (yes, three) Cocoa Daisy kits open on my desk and I have been mixing and matching to my hearts content. Why? Because I can. Because it is summer and I have been way too busy doing things other than scrapbooking. And because I don't subscribe to the idea that there are rules to this craft - that, and the kit police don't know where to find me (wait, they might be on to me after following my instagram feed!).

So, here it goes - three layouts that have pieces of June, July and August kits. But I won't stop there - I am going to keep going cause every now and then it is fun to have lots of options. And cause the September kit will be coming soon!!!!

Anniversary Album - a recap of 10 years

(Anniversary album cover)

After posting about my "delinquent" years for my anniversary album, I got numerous questions about it so I thought I would do a full recap here. I have never shared anything from this album -no reason in particular, probably just cause I started it in 2004 which was long before I ever posted pages online.

Background - when Jarad and I got married we had nothing, I mean, really less than nothing, so an anniversary present on year #1 was kinda out of the question. I decided to make an album as my gift since I already had scrapbook supplies - and if I recall correctly, I think my mother probably purchased the album for me and the paper too. To start off, I made a title page with our new shared last name and then a page that was a year in review kind of theme. (Note: to date the entire album has used Basic Grey products.)

Brace yourself here are years 1 -7:

I keep all of our anniversary cards in between the pages

I was about three years behind on my anniversary album and in keeping with my finishing up projects plan, I decided to just sit down and start working on picking pictures - those pages weren't going to make themselves! Then I pulled out my basic grey stash and started to work on picking out papers and setting myself up to work on these pages. I took about two weeks from start to finish since I had very little time in my scraproom - but I am happy to report the last three years are complete and in the album. Here they are:

The pictures are a little wonky as I had to retake them numerous times to get them to upload with the correct orientation in blogger. Apparently, blogger does not like photos taken from directly above which, or course, is the best way to photograph a layout!