Fonts used in preview: FG Ester, snowshoe, and Arial

I'm not quite ready to get the chat ad out yet, but I thought I would show off the mini-kit before the kids get home from school and we head to the library :)

It's Eggciting!

the 'E' LO for Brenna's ABC book.
Journaling: Brenna enjoyed helping dye Easter eggs this year for the first time. She was fascinated with how they changed color after putting them in the cup of liquid. She only stuck her hand in a cup once trying to retrieve an egg, and dropped one when trying to place an egg in the cup with the wire egg holder.
Brenna participated in the egg hunt at Faith Evangelical Free on March 26. It was moved indoors because of snow, so finding the eggs wasn’t hard. She was excited to discover that the colorful plastic eggs hid candy inside them!

credits: papers from The Blues Paper Pack by Tracy Blankenship at Digital Freebies and Scrappindigikreations (recolored); Scraplifted from "Friends" by Donna Downey in Simple Scrapbooks Jan/Feb 2006, pg 27
fonts: Juice ITC and MA Sexy

Didn't do much exciting today... stayed home and worked feverishly on the digicraft template for next week so that I can get an ad put together. I am really pleased with how my examples are turning out- I think they look as good as the the store bought one that I based my template on. I've got a few more pieces to whip out tonight for the minikit for the posting prize- if I can just get Sarah to go to sleep! Stay tuned for a sneak peek tomorrow ;)

The ABCs of Brenna have begun

Credits for ABC page: inked frame by me; fonts are Guanine and Century Gothic
Still in Love with Bear LO credits:
Journaling: At the age of 2 and a half years, Brenna still adores her bear blanket as much now as she did at one year old. His edges are losing their color, he doesn’t sing anymore, and he has a hole in his purple silk heart. It is rare that we can leave the house without him in tow. If he can’t be found, then Brenna will walk around the house yelling for him- it is almost as if she expects Bear to answer her and tell her where he is hiding. Bear is the 8th member of our family.
credits: Jessica's Hearts by Jen Reed, sketch by Amy Knepper for RAKscraps
fonts: FG Vilma, Adobe Caslon Pro

I've been having an internal conflict over how to do this ABC book for Brenna for a couple of months now, and I think I might have come to a compromise with myself finally ;) My trouble has been that I've been planning to do a book for her for her third birthday since before she was born since I've done one for all of the older kids- that means that I began saving paper supplies for it since I was doing paper scrapping back then. But, now that I am doing just about all of my scrapping digitally I, of course, would rather work in that medium. So, I decided I would do a little of both. The 'B' page above is an example- I am going to take the CM 7x7 album I've been saving and go ahead and use that. I will do the bulk of the pages digitally- the inked border, a LO representing that letter and maybe a small picture or two if needed for something. The LO size will be 5x5 in the end so that there is some blank border space along 2 edges. Once the pages are printed then I can go through the zillion stickers and embellishments I still have and fill the blank space up with small extra items. The CM 5x7 ABC snap pack I was saving to use for this can then be sold either to another consultant or at the scrapping garage sale my group of friends is considering holding this summer. I thought I was going to be able to use more of the LOs I've already done over the last year, but it looks like I will be creating at least half of them just for this project with pics I haven't scrapped yet. I have a month to get this done, so you will be seeing lots of Brenna LOs posted here over the next few weeks LOL!

Here's the LO I did last night for the 'C' page- I used AmyK's current sketch for the sketch challenge at RAKs.
journaling: Sammy was always very good with all of the kids, but he seemed to be just a bit fonder of Brenna- maybe because she was always so gentle with him. I cherish these pictures of Brenna with Sammy giving him hugs and kisses as they were taken just a few days before he left us for kitty heaven.
credits: Cat's Meow by Lyndsay Riches; black and brown papers by Dani Brath from Black Cherry and Chocolate Vanilla kits; sketch by Amy Knepper
fonts: Century Gothic


Other goings on this weekend have been trying to get the house cleaned up a little. Most of the time I feel that it is an impossible task as the kids make messes faster than I can get it cleaned up. So, I hope by tackling it a little bit at a time during the day while they are at school that it will get done before my parents arrive for their visit over Spring Break on March 22. Scrapping is my 'reward' for getting a little cleaning done. A big hunk of what I have to clean up in the LR is the stacks of scrapping magazines waiting to be cut up and saved LOs waiting to be put into the appropriate place in my filing system. I, at least, should be able to get lots of inspiration from my cleaning efforts, right?

You know those pulled muscles I got last week wrestling that shelf? they aren't getting any better :( In fact, every morning when I try to get out of bed they seem to be a bit worse. After I am up and moving around for a little while it doesn't seem so bad. This situation reminds me though of when I had the pulled muscles in my side from the roller coaster up in Denver and I ended up in the ER a couple of weeks afterward because they had tightened up so much that it was painful to breathe and move. I'm not sure what all I should be doing to try and keep that from happening again other than trying not to stress them any more by lifting things the wrong way.

Oh, and we went to the zoo this afternoon and saw the new baby gorilla that was born a couple of weeks ago. I have a few pics on the camera, but I'm not sure how in focus they are yet since I couldn't use the flash. I guess we will see when I get them off- they look fine on the teeny screen, but we all know how accurate that is, right?

Sarah had her first taste of rice cereal at lunch today. She did pretty well with it. The first couple of times are more for exploring and trying to figure out what to do with that mush Mom keeps shoving in her mouth. At least she didn't scream at me over it like Brenna did the first time I tried cereal with her ;)

And lastly, it's official now that I'm on Tracy Blankenships new CT! whoo hoo!! I think I have most everything she has every created- or at least parts of them- already. I'm looking forward to working with her and the other ladies of the team! You can check out who else is on the team over at Tracy's blog -> Scrappin Digi Style

I am loving this project

I got the sweetest message in my PM box this morning from another RAKscraps member saying how much she enjoyed looking through my gallery there. She had seen the following 2 new LOs and decided to go check out what else I had done. It was a wonderful way to start the day off! RAKscraps is filled with such wonderful people!

cover
credits: Good Times by Carrie Stephens, Fishscraps
Fonts: 2Peas Beautiful, 2Peas DW Journal, and 2Peas Hot Chocolate
pg1
journaling: I actually have very few ‘bad face’ pictures- the kids know not to make them on purpose, because it will only take me longer to get a picture I am happy with. Sometimes I let them make silly faces if it will help me get a good shot, but then I usually delete them later- which is a definate advantage to using a digital camera.
credits: Good Times by Carrie Stephens, Fishscraps; Aged Polaroid Alpha by Amanda Lacey (MandaBean), Sweet Shoppe Designs; Blizzard Alpha by Rachel Dickson, Scrapdish
Fonts: 2Peas DW Journal, and 2Peas Hot Chocolate

I am having way too much fun with the new little project Tania started at RAKscraps!! I love the mini format and the different things to scrap. I've done the first quote and my cover.... and now I have to wait until next week- talk about suspense and torture! Oh well, it isn't like I don't have 5 other projects on my plate that are partially completed and need my attention too.

Let's see, what else do I have to do today:
fold clean laundry- done
put away laundry- done
wash & dry at least 2 more loads of laundry
haircuts for Brenna and I at 11:30- done
haircuts for Beth and Carissa at 3:15- done
put the bin shelf together- done
finish RAKs march minikit
work on template for March digicraft
start on Brenna's ABC album

Somehow I don't see me getting even half of that done today. Sarah is definately not feeling well; it is almost 9A and she is still not awake this morning. I finally hear her stirring upstairs, so I had better go post this and go get her. Have a great day everyone!

Poor baby

Sarah had her 4 month well check today. She weighs 13 pounds 3 ounces now, and is 24.5 inches long. That puts her smack-dab in the middle (50th percentile) of the growth charts for both. Even her head circumference came in at the 49th percentile. So I guess we can officially say she is 'average' LOL She got 3 shots today- Pediarix, Hib, and Prevnar. Between the 3 shots that is 7 different vaccines. She seems to be coping well so far, but I've been making sure to give her Tylenol. She did run a fever for about 24 hours after the last set of shots (which were the same ones she got this time), so hopefully it won't be any worse this time around.

I am officially down to my pre-pregnancy weight. Yeah! I've always kept those last few pounds after the baby came, so getting those off this time around is encouraging! Now if I can just continue the weight loss- there is still quite a ways to go.

MAJOR Frustration

One of the gifts that the ladies at my church gave us at Sarah's baby shower was a Visa gift card with a nice sum of money on it so that I could get what I needed when I determined what that was exactly. About a month ago I finally decided that I would use the $ to buy some storage pieces for Brenna's room so that when we decide to move Sarah into the room with her, we will have space in there for her. Toys and books were everywhere because there was no good place to put them. So I bought the 2 units pictured above at Target.
A few days after buying them I lug the bookshelf upstairs and put it together- no problem. Then, I drag the bin storage unit upstairs and start to assemble it, only to realize part way through that I am missing one of the dowels. I box everything back up and drag it back downstairs. In the box there is a phone number to call if you are missing parts, so after waiting for the holiday weekend to be over I call and ask them to send me the part. I leave it sitting in my LR waiting for the day I get it and can finally put it together.
That was 3 weeks ago and it still hasn't arrived. So, out of frustration yesterday I finally dig out the receipt and lug the whole thing back to Target to get a replacement. In the process of getting it into and out of the van I managed to pull some of the muscles in my back. I get an exchange and lug the new box home. A few minutes ago I thought I would take advantage of Sarah's nap time and put this shelf together so that I can start to work on getting the LR cleaned up before my parents come visit next month. I open up the box and count the dowels- all there, bins- all there, sides- both there. Wait a minute... there are NO SCREWS. ARGHHHH!!!!
So, I've got a call in to Mark at work asking him to stop on the way home and just buy me a $1 package of wood screws so that I can put this darn thing together finally. I guess we will see if he actually checks his voice mail today. Watch the delivery guy finally bring the missing dowel for the first shelf today too.

For the night owl chat on 2.19.06journaling: The kid's computer is located in Bryce's room. In January 2006 they got a new computer and now have the most powerful one in the house. Now all of their games will run on their computer. Favorite games of the moment are Lemony Snickets, a 3D game, Princess Fashion Boutique, Tonka Garage, and Teletubbies. They spend hours playing the games in Bryce's room, and have been known to fight over who's turn it is next at times. For themost part though, they share the computer well.
credits: Cali Blues by Tania Cordova; blue twill ribbon from Shabby Blues by Tania Cordova; LO based on sketch by Gina Miller for SBB subscriber sketch challenge
fonts: Mikrokomputer, Carpal Tunnel

A Dora Moment

Brenna tends to mumble now when she talks, I'm not sure exactly why. Maybe she is just trying to not be too loud (my greatest grumble right now is how noisy the house gets when everyone is home), or maybe she is just hesitant to ask for what she wants because she doesn't think she will get it. Anyway, I digress. She decided she wanted to watch one of the DVDs she picked out from the library this week and went to ask Mark to put it in for her. Typically she mumbled the request very softly. Mark asked her to 'speak up'- nothing happened. So, he asked her to say it 'louder' the second time. She repeated her request clear as a bell and at a normal volume level. LOL!

Sarah is 4 months old

journaling: At 4 months old, Sarah is rolling from side to side, grabs things and puts them in her mouth, plays by herself for a short time under the play gym or sitting in the exersaucer, still doesn’t like to sleep in the crib, naps in the swing, doesn’t like the car seat much, and is showing some interest in table food.
Everything from RAKscraps January 2006 mega kit: Amy Wolff: baby animals and dotted papers, tag, ribbons; heart stripe paper by Kim Jensen; flower paper by Tracy Blankenship; word paper by Meredith Cardall; heart brads by Shelly Chua; block alpha by Robin Cabana; fonts: LD Beatnick and LoosieScript

Brrrrr... it's cold

It is very cold here today- at least it has stopped snowing. Even though we have the fireplace going and I am sitting right next to it I am still chilled a bit. Sarah has been extra clingy today too- I should probably put a warmer sleeper on her and see if that helps.

I'm glad it is Saturday because yesterday felt like Saturday with the whole family home, and it wasn't. That was really messing me up!

I just can't seem to get motivated to work on anything today- maybe it is the cold keeping my creative juices from flowing. It could also have something to do with the fact that I had to let the kids borrow my trackball and am having to use the touchpad on my laptop. I'm not very comfortable with it, or my new tablet yet. DH just got back from shopping though and bought a new mouse for the kids' computer so I can have my trackball back now.

We had a neighbor come to the door asking if she could borrow some water to clean her house with last night- evidently they sold their house (right next door to us) and she was finishing up the cleaning. I, of course, said yes- it is unfortunate I have to say it, but we are VERY glad to see them move. Hopefully the next neighbors will be better ones.

a funeral, WWII and Peanuts

Well, I was hoping to get more scrapping done tonight but I seem to have run out of creative steam for the evening (or early morning, whichever you want to think of it as LOL!)

I was working on my freebie kit for RAKs for March earlier- I have to get it done for the digicraft chat at the beginning of March. I've had a particular element in my head for over a year and I finally started working on it tonight and I must say it looks fabulous! LOL So nice when you can make something exactly like you see it in your head. Now I just have to figure out what else to put with it ;)

So what else did I do today? This morning I went to a funeral for Stan Travnecik. I didn't know him hardly at all, but I know his wife. I met Polly through my friend Bonnie when she asked for some help with a special album that she wanted to work on for Polly. You see, Polly and Stan found a wall mural in their home that was one of Charles Schulz's earliest works. They donated the whole wall to the Schulz museum when it opened- and that wasn't an easy task because it was an outside wall. Bonnie and I and some of our other friends October last year putting together a scrapbook documenting Stan and Polly's experiences with that wall and all of the things that they have done and people they have met throught it. It was an amazing project that touched us more than we realized it would when we started. If you are interested in seeing the album, you can find the pages posted HERE.
(can anybody guess which pages I worked on?)

I found myself most moved during the funeral at the end when a two young men from the Army presented Stan with military honors and gave the flag draping his coffin to Polly. Stan was evidently very proud of his service to our country during WWII. Polly has written down some of the stories he told her, and I will look forward to reading them. It reminded me of my grandfather, as he also served in WWII. At the request of my parents I began work on a scrapbook of his memorabilia from the war 4 years ago, I think it was. It turned out to be an incredible year of discovery both of myself, my grandfather, and all that happened to those who served our country during that time. I was lucky enough to be able to connect with another member of my grandfather's crew through the internet, and we now share a special relationship as well. We put together a website that tells a little about their B-24 crew and their training and combat experiences. It is a very small way of preserving some of the memories that are lost every day with the death of the few remaining WWII veterans. Dale has written a book about his experiences during that time, and I have to say it was as good as any of the other books that I read during all of my research that year. So, without further ado- go visit my website about my grandfather's WWII B-24 crew by clicking HERE!

I just posted this for TracyB's Mix and Match challenge- today's daily challenge for RAKweek credits: star paper from Clownin' Around by Dani Mogstad; solid pink paper by Meredith Fenwick from All You Need is Love; Stripe Paper from Sweet Shoppe by Robin Carlton; flower paper by Sara Carling from Sweet Nothings; jeweled petals by Mrs.Schmuck; stitching by Dani Mogstad from Autumn Spice2 embellishments; star stickpin by Kim Jensen from January06 RAKscraps megakit; tag by Michele Underwood from Diddlyscraps kit and inked with Atomic Cupcake chalked edges action; alpha by AmyJo Smith from Angie Kit, Reflections of Friends CD; LO based on sketch by Gina Miller
Font: CK Extra

I think it took me longer to find all of the parts than it did to put the whole thing together; I just love working with a good sketch and this was one I loved by Gina Miller. She is running the subscriber's sketch challenge over at SBB and they have all been great so far. I've saved the ones I missed the challenges for to use later ;)

RAKscraps Blog Challenge #4 Post a wishlist

I happened to be one of the lucky ones to win one of the Sweet Shoppe's gift certificates during their grand opening, so I have been cruising around their store for the last week and half trying to decide what all to spend my $ on. So far I've bought 2 things:
Aged Polaroid Alpha by Manda Bean
and Jennifer by Robin Carlton
I really love Robin's stuff and have quite a collection- I loved the browns, blacks and patterns on this one- very elegant. I had been eyeing it when it was over at the DigiChick, but always bought something to use for the kids instead. This kit is for ME :)

Some of the things I am considering using my remaining $ on:
Karma Chameleon by the Sweet Shoppe Designers
Candy Coated Kisses by MandaBean and Andrea Victoria
Love-O-Saurus by Mandabean and Robin Carlton
Splendor by Sara Carling
Fleurs 'D Automne by Sara Carling
too bad the rest of my GC won't go that far....

Oh, and I've been eyeing some things at other shops too lately, but I'm too lazy to go look up their links right now so you will have to do that on your own-
over at the Shabby Shoppe
Sugar and Spice by Taran Conyers
Be Genuine by Sara Carling

at SBB:
Gina Miller's Build Your Own Bulletin Board kit- though I am sure that if I just did a little digging around in my HD that I could come up with more than enough similar pieces to do my own version of this kit ;)
Express Yourself CD by Ashley Olson and Dawn Stocstill

I had better end it there- I see Sarah trying to wake herself up (she is sitting in the swing, just about the only place she will nap).

I'm working on getting my HD backed up. I don't know if it is just the backup software the computer doesn't like or something else, but I gave up trying to use that. I am copying all of the folders over by hand in sections to the backup drive and that is going smoothly. It isn't taking nearly as long as I thought it would, which is nice.

I'm looking forward to the FAQs you are working on Amy! I need some help badly LOL!

2 HR delay and panicking a bit

We got some snow last night and the kids' school district decided to delay the start of school by 2 hrs. I might actually be able to get a shower in this morning since the kids will be around a little while and can entertain Sarah while I sneak upstairs for a few minutes. I was going to go to MOPs this morning, but the delayed start cancels the meeting.

So, last night I was thinking to myself- I really need to get my digital kits backed up again. I was going to start it just before I went up to bed; I have a backup program that came with my external HD that 'syncs' the HD and external so I don't have to backup all 55GB every time. I haven't done it in a while and there are some new things I've DLed that are only on Eeyores D drive at this point. I started to get concerned when all of sudden the computer wasn't recognizing the D drive- it disappeared and in the middle of trying to finish up the DL of Pri's gorgeous prize. A reboot seemed to fix the problem and I continued the DL and my plans for backing stuff up. Then, it happened again. Now I am really starting to panic; I reboot again and this time go right to the backup software and start the process. It goes along for about 10 minutes and then the computer just shuts down. So, I gave up and went to bed- all the while worrying about not getting my backup accomplished. I will be trying again today. It is most likely a problem with the operating system and DH will have to reformat and install it all again - he just did this not too long ago, but something is just not right (the printer won't install for example) and we probably got a bad install. So, if you don't see me around RAKs this weekend, DH is probably working on the computer and I can't get on-line.

I have a pretty header made for the top of this thing, but my eyes start to glaze over when I look at all of that code and I haven't been able to figure out where to insert it. Hopefully Amy will get her directions for how to do this put up today. I got my avatar uploaded in the profile picture place, but for some reason that tiny little graphic looks horrible, and it isn't showing up on the main blog page. I really need that 'blogging for dummies' book- wonder if the library has one....

RAKs blogging Challenge #2

1. What colors do you use the most when you scrap?
I do try to let the pictures dictate the color of the LOs most times, but lately it is pink. With 4 girls to scrap pictures of how could it not be? Sarah just looks so adorable in pink- it's perfect for her skin tone.

2. What is your favorite kit theme? (like boys, girls, heritage, special event, etc)
I love flowers of all shapes, sizes and colors, so girly kits with lots of flowers are my favorite.

3. What are your favorite elements to use when you scrap?
ribbons, stitching, lots of paper layers, tags, I tend to use all types of elements sparingly

4. Describe your style (even if you don't think you have one!)
Here's how I described it in Mish's "Embracing Your Style" thread at RAKs:
...occasionally I am able to pull off a LO with a totally different style than the 'paper-look' that I so easily fall back on, but most of the time I start out trying something new and it just ends up looking the same as all the others by the time I am done LOL! But you know, when I look through my albums I find myself smiling at the memories and in the end that is all that really matters (though it doesn't keep me from wishing for a new 'hip' style at times).
I have to add that I've been pleased with a few LOs I've done lately that are different than my traditional paper style- love those challenges at RAKs! they help me break out of my comfortable zone and try something new. And it doesn't hurt that I'm learning more about PSE and how to do new things with it. If I have a picture of what I want the LO to look like, but I can't figure out how to achieve it then it gets really frustrating and I fall back on what I know.

5. If you could have one kit made especially for you, what would it be for?
I would like a baby duck kit to go with all of Sarah's ducks- blanket, toys, clothing, etc. I have colors all picked out (greens, yellows, peach and different shades of white) but I just haven't been pleased with what I came up with when I tried to do one myself.

I give up!

I've been thinking about starting one of these for a while now, since I started reading everyone else's blogs, and I finally caved and just did it (though blogger was giving me fits with error messages over and over again). I'm really not one for keeping a journal- I had a diary for about a year as a preteen, gave it up because I don't like writing that much and never did that again. I used to be good about sending emails on a regular basis about what the kids were up to to family, but I fell out of the habit when life got busier. Maybe this will work better, at least for a while. I guess we will see how it goes.

Now I just have to figure out how to make this thing look pretty :)