Your Mother Should Know ...

December gets a little crazy around here!

And I bet everyone knows what I'm talking about!  LOL  We are immersed in Christmas shopping, Christmas social events, Christmas church events, and Christmas crafting!  And that's above and beyond the schedule we already maintain.  I don't have a lot of time for scrapbooking right now, but I intend to make up for that after I'm squared away for Christmas. 

Here's another layout I created last month.  It's a simple one, and doesn't have a picture.  It's a postcard I picked up during one of our weekend treks into Vermont when we lived in Massachusetts.  I've saved the postcard for almost twenty years and ran across it recently, reminded once again our maple syrup time and a family outing.  I wanted to capture the memory for the kids, and the postcard worked just fine. 

TIP:  If you have something you want to capture but don't have pictures to help tell your story, Google it!  Google has many images that are free, and you may find something there.  Or you can use a postcard like I did here.  You can also document your story without photos.  :)  Is the postcard acid and lignon free?  I doubt it.  I used it anyway.  If that is a concern for you, scan the postcard and print it out on photo paper.

 

Then there's this one!  The photo was taken in 2004 when we were re-landscaping the yard at our old house.  Large jobs require large equipment, and we rented a BobCat (bigger than a shovel but probably considered small by many standards).  Our adventurous baby girl wanted to learn how to drive it!  She is sitting in the cab with her dad standing on the bucket, instructing her how to make it work! 

And on the Topic of Blogs ...

I do remember that I have a blog, honest.  August was busy; September was, too.  October was also busy, and I tore the meniscus in my left knee.  THAT little event brought me to a standstill.  And when a busy woman's energy is tapped just doing ordinary life things, like showering and dressing, she gets very behind!  I'm doing better, thank goodness, and getting things done.  Next on my list is to finish my Christmas shopping.  I'm thankful, however, that it's started.

For Project Life fans, I'm current again, I've taken pictures up through week 46, and I'm in the process of editing the pics and uploading them to my 2011 Project Life gallery (there's also a link to my PL gallery in the left sidebar).  I will edit the last half of the photos and get them posted as soon as I can.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, enjoying your favorite foods with your favorite people.  We had a lovely one here. 

Here are a couple of recent layouts I created using the Dixie Pieces November kit called Sweater Weather:

This is my favorite grandson, photo taken in October at a school event.  I used Bazzill cardstock, Crate Paper Farmhouse and My Little Yellow Bicycle Hello Fall patterned papers. 

Another favorite, taken the same day and using the November Dixie Pieces kit is Father & Son:

 

The person who updates this blog!

Yes, the person who updates this blog (that would be me) is among the missing and needs to ask for further indulgence.  Life seems to be getting in the way -- nothing bad, mind you, just a lot to get done. 

Drat that my body requires sleep every day! 

And to the next person who says, "but of course you have time, this will only take you 15 minutes"; my response is this:  "You are correct; I do have a few 15-minute slots open in my daily schedule.  Unfortunately, I have 83 84 items on my list to fill them.  I will be happy to add your item to the list."   OR

"Everyone makes time for those things the WANT to do.", my response is this:  "Right!  And I WANT to get all those things I NEED to do done so I can have some FUN!"

I'll try to get my life back under control quickly!  :)

 

A Mother's Failed Attempt ...

Today, another mother (thanks, Sharyn) repeated a brief conversation with her daughter, who was questioning whether the blueberries in the pancakes were chocolate chips, and Sharyn said they were.  Sharyn knew her daughter didn't like blueberries, and her daughter probably figured out these were NOT chocolate chips before the pancakes were eaten!

It made me grin, because I remembered a similar conversation with my young daughter. 

 

My young daughter did not like liver.  To be fair, she had tried it once.  Heck, I can remember that I didn't like it as a child either!  Although it wasn't my favorite, I could eat it; my husband loved it -- browned, smother in onions and gravy, simmered til done, and served over mashed potatoes (if I remember correctly).  So, I'm in the kitchen, working at the stove, with my back to my daugher:

Daughter:    What are you doing?
Me:    Making supper.  [thinking:  uh oh, she doesn't like liver and probably won't eat it]
Daughter:  What are we having for supper?
Me:    Food [if i don't tell her it's liver, will she try it again?  maybe she'll like it this time]
Daughter:  What kind of food?
Me:  Meat and Potatoes [if I call it something else, will she try it again?]
Daughter:  What kind of meat?
            AND THEN THE LIE!
Me:  Steak.
Daughter:  Steak?
Me:  Yep.
Daughter:  Smells like liver!
Me:  [crap!]

My attempt to sneak liver under the radar didn't work; she still didn't like it.  My recommendation now?  Keep staples like peanut butter and jelly in the house for situations like this.  Oh, and it doesn't look any more appetizing if you bring it out the next morning for breakfast!

Foods I didn't like as a child but like now:
Chili
Acorn Squash
Sweet Potatoes and Yams
Steak
Cucumbers
Asparagus
Peas
and probably more

Foods I didn't like as a child and still don't:
Beets
Pickles
Eggplant
and probably more

It's Friday (for me)!

My work week is over, and I am preparing for a weekend filled with paper, glue, and giggles.  I've got tickets to ride crop at Scrapbook Expo tomorrow and Saturday, and I wanna play!    But to play, I need to pack, so I'm headed off to do just that in a few minutes.  Before I go:

If you're looking for my Project Life  updates (like from week 15 to current), please be patient with me.  I'm current through week 26 and the pictures are taken; I just need to crop and post them.  Maybe I'll get to finish weeks 27 and 28 this weekend.

I created this layout last Friday in response to a couple challenges, one of them based on a PageMaps sketch for a contest.  There's still time to enter (like the one I posted yesterday).

 

Scrapping!

Things are a little crazy here!  I'm headed to Scrapbook Expo Friday and Saturday.  Then home on Sunday for laundry and packing.  Then Monday morning I'm off to CHA and a little time in my hometown to visit family!  So, instead of preparing for Expo (cropping Friday and Saturday), I'm updating my blog!  Can we spell pro-cras-ti-na-tion???  Oh well; it's all good.  If I don't spend hours preparing, I won't be as productive but I'll still have fun! 

I created this layout last weekend based upon a PageMaps sketch and for the Punky Sprouts contest.  There's still time to enter if you like!   I picked up this paper at the CKC Portland 2011 Thursday night technique crop.  I actually LOVED the paper, but I didn't love the layout or technique.  So I created something different.  The paper is still pretty busy, but I like how it turned out.

Favorite May Layouts

You may remember that I participated in Layout A Day in May that made May fly by! I don't think I'll post every layout I did, but I thought I'd post my favorites! 

Of all the layouts I completed, this is probably my favorite; maybe because this is one of my favorite photos: 

Then there is this one created with a 26-year-old photo, also well loved.  The kids are all grown; things change. 

Then there's this one -- it makes me grin everytime I look at it.  

Then this layout of Brenna's pup, Miss Lilu.  She turned one year old this year. 

This one just for fun: 

And my favorite layout of Gracie: 

This is my favorite layout of the little Dude; the joy on his face is priceless: 

Dixie Pieces Tropical Paradise Kit Goes On Sale Today!

This was a fun kit to  play with.  Feel free to jump over to the design team's folder and view the layouts, cards and projects created by the designers. 

Here are my layouts.  The first one is of our grandson and his Aunt Bee.  I used the kit's zipper to create the flowers.  Tip:  I split the zipper by pulling it apart.  Zipper flower tip:  use your hot glue gun!  I didn't find any of my trusty adhesives up for the task.  If you have something else that works, let me know!

 

This is our baby girl; pink is her favorite color!  I know this photo is a bit dark, but it's still one of my favorites.  Tip:  You can use your inks to color the Bella Blvd white alphas.  I used pink below.

 

Lastly, we have that lovely, varigated animal print (here in green but above in pink) used on the layout documenting the great t-shirts Krista designed for Damien's first Father's Day gifts. Each tee sports a unique design.  I grabbed some Jillibean Soup corrugated hearts out of my stash and added to this layout.  The green dot material is printed tissue paper from Pink Paislee; I cut a nice, long strip and ruffled it below.

 

You can purchase your kit here!

back from my walkabout!

No, I really did not journey in Australia, but I have been away from the blog for a while!  In May I participated in Lain Ehmann's Layout a Day.  I foolishly thought I could work my 40 hours, keep up with Dixie Pieces, create a layout every day, AND post the layout to my blog!  Hahahahaha [is anyone else laughing at this?}!  I was WRONG, and the blog suffered once again.  When the calendar turned to June, I needed to clean up, catch up, and get my designs done for Scrap 'n Book.  Those were turned in Friday, and I thought I'd show them to you here.  I worked with the Doodlebug Birthday collection and the Reminisce In Bloom line.  This banner was created with the Maya Road butterfly acrylic mini album and the Reminisce papers. 

 
The butterflies for this layout were cut with the Silhouette from white ledger paper then inked.

and another with the Reminisce paper plus Petaloo blooms

 
and the last layout uses the birthday paper (I'll do the journaling once the layout comes back from the store display).

 

 

 

 

Project Life: Week 15

Week 15 -- getting closer and closer to Easter; and check out the spud bunnies.  LOL  Plus I've been looking for a public phone or phone booth to photograph.  They are a disappearing part of our past, replaced by personal cell and smartphones.  I found this is the Seattle Hilton, still looking for the phone booth.  And the stack of Scrapbook Trends magazines was a super deal. 

 

In the right page, I captured the communication asking permission to post my layout to the Fancy Pants blog.  It took me all of five seconds to say yes.

Also included here are some of our crazy scrapbooking group's antics at Red Robin.  The Red Robin paper was wrapped around our silverware; I kept it and stitched it to one of the photos.  Lastly, a Google doodle that was actually a video.