Birthday presents

So, yesterday was my birthday. It was a pretty good day. Most of it was spent doing all of our normal activities- school, dance class, our weekly library visit, and then Momma came over and watched the kids for us while Mark and I went to dinner. I chose Mimi's Cafe this year- I love their French Onion Soup and I also had a pistachio crusted salmon fillet that was very good.

Brenna drew me this picture and presented it to me when I got up.

journaling: Brenna drew me this picture of us together for my birthday. This is the first time I’ve seen her draw a picture of me with my glasses on.
credits: Sweet Love by Saxon Holt and Tracey Monette at Scrapbook-Elements.com; P52 Week 5 layout by Tracy Blankenship at FunkyPlaygroundDesigns; 365 International Edition by by Monica Guerra Leiria (mglScraps) at scrapbookgraphics.com; fonts: CK Becky

I got this gift from my mom a couple of days early:
We found it at the Denver Indian Market on Saturday. It was at one of the last booths we stopped at. The beads are jasper and turquoise, and the multi-colored stone is called "Boulder."

I made cupcakes for everyone yesterday too. Cherry chip cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. Sarah is quite obsessed with the cupcakes and keeps asking when she can have one today.

My birthday present from Mark arrived this morning. I love it when the FedEx truck pulls up to our house. Here is what he left with me- an Epson Artisan 700:
I've got to clean off the end of my table for it. By the size of the box, I think it's going to take up most of the room on the left side.

Mr. Postman also brought me a very late Christmas gift today too, finally. Mark got me some jewelry this year and he completely guessed wrong on the size of ring I wear. The gal he bought it from agreed to exchange it for the correct size, so I packaged it up and sent it back to her the week after Christmas. It took 3 weeks for it to get to her- I was beginning to think it just got lost in the mail by then. The correct size made it's way back to me today. Sarah keeps looking at it and trying to take if off my finger because she is such a jewelry nut and loves everything sparkly LOL

PrimaHybrid Flirty Accordian Album

This project is made with a new Hybrid kit that is coming to PrimaHybrid soon. I sent this off to the CHA show, I hope it comes back intact! There are a few tips on how I put this together over on the Prima blog today, if you are interested.

digital credits: IOD Flirty Album Hybrid Album kit, digital files
font: SP Wonderful Wendy
traditional credits: by Prima Marketing: pages from 6x6 Embossed Chipboard Book, Felt Alphabets, Diecut Chipmates Chipboard, Chipmates Inkjet diecut sticker sheets, Chipmates Clear Epoxy Stickers, 4 Seasons Velvet Leaves, Festive Whites Flowers, Loft 18 Burgundy Flowers, Say It in Crystals Center Kisses, Build-A-Bauble hearts and Circles, pink velvet ribbon from Ribbon Stax Spring #3, Got Flowers?
other: Zig pens, acrylic paint, Zots glue dots, velvet ricrac by American Crafts, Mod Podge

LO with new kit from Jess Gordon

journaling: It’s hard to believe we’ve been together for 20 years and married 18 years now. Loving isn’t easy. It’s a choice you make every day to see the good in the person you care for and overlook their faults, accepting them for who they are. I love you, and I thank you for choosing me. I don’t know what I would do without you.
credits: Real Love by Jess Gordon at SunshineStudioScraps; Text Paths by Jen Caputo at scrapbookgraphics; Paper Block templates 1 by Emily Merritt at WeAreStoryTellers; fonts: Century Gothic and Cezanne

New LOs

the Project 365 commitment is going well so far. Here's my weekly layout for the P52 version going on over at Funky Playground- we actually have to scrap a photo a week for it. Celestial Seasonings' holiday tea Candy Cane Lane is my winter favorite, especially at night after the house is quiet. It's a mint tea, but not quite as strong as regular peppermint tea. I really enjoy it so I stocked up this year while it was available in the stores.

credits: Peppermint Twist by Amy Hutchinson at AfterFiveDesigns; P52 Week 4 layout by Tracy Blankenship at FunkyPlaygroundDesigns; 365 International Edition by by Monica Guerra Leiria (mglScraps) at scrapbookgraphics.com; stitch from by Dianne Rigdon from Life is a Bistro Bonus alpha; fonts: CK Constitution

My 2008 Year In Review layout for the annual exchange with my scrapping friends I crop with every month. We're running behind this year and it looks like we might not be able to all get together until February now, but at least my pages are done. All I need to do now is have the copies printed and trimmed.

journaling: 1- We met Irene Bedard, the voice of Disney’s Pocahontas, at the Denver Indian Market on January 19; 2-Brenna turns 5 and 3- Bryce turns 10 in April; 4- Touring the Mollie Kathleen goldmine with my sister and her kids during their visit in June; 5- visiting with Dale in July; 6- visiting my grandparents and cousins in July; 7 Brenna goes to Kindergarten; 8- Beth and Carissa turn 10 in August; 9- Mark and I get away for a few days in September to Savannah, Georgia; 10- Sarah turns 3 in October
credits: Vintage Linens by Shabby Miss Jenn, from DigiFiles1 at TheDailyDigi.com; Template 75 by Yin Designs; Fraying Fabric templates by Rachel Young at scrapartist.com; Clearly Stated by Mikkel Paige at oscraps.com; fonts: CK Becky

I did this layout for the mgl playday at scrapbookgraphics last week. The photo was taken after the Michael Card concert in December 2007, so that is why we are all dressed up.

credits: Chocolate Covered Cherries by Monica Guerra Leiria (mglScraps) at scrapbookgraphics.com; Keep it Simple 1 by Janet Phillips
fonts: Bickley Script

journaling: We finally got the kids a Wii, and they love it! One of everyone’s favorite games is bowling in Wii Sports. Even Brenna can play this one and is good at it. Carissa is the bowling champ though, having rolled a 7-pack (a series of 7 strikes in a row) once and a 6-pack twice.
credits: Bowl-o-rama by Dani Mogstad and Traci Reed at SweetShoppeDesigns; template by Jennilyn, Lauren Grier CT blog freebie; Bad Sewing Machine -Don't Be Square and -Round N Round by Traci Reed at SSD; fonts: CK Nitelite

It's haircut day in our house, so I need to get Sarah ready to go as the first round of appointments is right after I pick Brenna up from school. Round 2 is for Beth and Carissa after they get out of school. Beth and Carissa want to grow their bangs out since most girls at dance have theirs that way, I guess we will give it a try but they are going to have to start keeping their hair a bit neater without my prompting every morning for them to be able to keep it that way ;)

A hybrid project and a couple of new layouts

I made this 2009 Binder Organizer back at the beginning of December for the January 2009 DST Insider. I was the hybrid feature for the month and wrote a tutorial on how I made this for the newsletter. You can go check it out if you are interested, the newsletters are free to registered members of DST.

credits:
Binder Template 8.5x5.5x1by Melinda Staley at scrapdish.com
Horizon Classic and Horizon Scrap page templates by Dianne Rigdon at scrapartist.com
Outnumbered Girl and Homegirl Gets Frilly by Jessica Bolton
Timepiece wordart (Create blog freebie) and tag shape (from Sweet Sugar Pop) by Holly McCaig
font: CK Becky, TXT Fat Hatch

journaling: Sarah is my late-night companion, staying up long past everyone else’s bed time just because Mama is still up and working. She plays with her toys or watches a DVD if it is not a night one of my shows is on. I took this picture at 10:30 PM and she is as perky as ever still.
credits: at FunkyPlaygroundDesigns: Love Me Tender by Krystal Hartley, Project 52 Week 3 template by Tracy Blankenship; 365 International Edition by by Monica Guerra Leiria (mglScraps) at scrapbookgraphics.com; fonts: 2Peas Fiori, TXT Monkeyshine

journaling: One of the things I was looking forward to the most about the trip was walking through the historic district and having enough time to stop and appreciate whatever little details caught my eye. Mark was busy at the conference on Friday, so I had most of the day to myself. I left the hotel about 10 AM and spend over 6 hours strolling the streets with my guidebook and camera in hand learning about the city and it’s historical buildings, people, and events.
credits: everything at scrapbookgraphics.com: Lots of Photos 2 by Janet Phillips; Listen To Your Heart by Manuela Zimmerman; Curlies Alpha by Birgit Kerr; greenery by Berna Datema in IO Fatherhood and Birgit Kerr in IO Serendipity; fonts: CK Heritage

Prima Hybrid Valentines

I don't think I've mentioned here that Prima asked me to stay on their Design Team for 2009. I was very excited to get that email and I've been having fun playing with a new box of product they sent. Our first hybrid assignment was to make something with the digital files from the IOD Parcel Post Hybrid album kit. Here's what I came up with- the red and green lend themselves quite nicely to Valentine's day cards and projects even though it was originally designed as a Christmas kit:
6x6 Love Card

digital credits: IOD Parcel Post Christmas Hybrid Album kit, digital files; font: Edwardian Script

traditional credits: by Prima Marketing: Diecut Chipboard (#400026), diecut sticker sheets, Festive Whites flowers (#527556P), Vintage Bloom Rusty flowers (#518998), Got Flowers? leaves, Build-A-Bauble rhinestone hearts (#400323), Whispered Words (#812119), Bitty Bag (#506988); other: Ranger Distress Ink, cardstock, pearls

Sweets for My Sweet placecard/treat bag topper

digital credits: IOD Parcel Post Christmas Hybrid Album kit, digital files; font: Edwardian Script

traditional credits: by Prima Marketing: Diecut Chipboard (#400026), diecut sticker sheets, Clear Epoxy Stickers (#400002), Felt Alphabet (#811952), Build-A-Bauble rhinestone hearts (#400323); other: Ranger Distress Ink

Let's go to the Circus

... or at least remember when we did several years ago ;) Birgit Kerr and Alana McCarthy came out with this huge and gorgeous collab kit called "Carousel" at scrapbookgraphics. All of Alana's pieces are hand painted by her- boy, I wish I could draw like that! I love the large carousel and will have to figure out how to use that on a page too. For this layout though, I just stuck with the circus themed elements. I've looked at the photos from this trip to the Shriners Circus back in 2003 many times and never could come up with a satisfactory way to scrap them. I only had my little Fuji digital camera back then and so the pictures aren't very big, and well they just weren't that pretty to look at with the empty bleachers of the Penrose arena behind the acts. I extracted several of the performers from the photos and put them in this fun little layout. I like the 'miniature' effect this has.journaling: Bryce got some free tickets to the Shriners Circus at school, so as a treat we all went.
The kids were amazed at the jugglers, animals, high-wire acts and motorcyclists. As the show progressed dark clouds rolled in and rain began to fall, but the show must go on- and it did!
credits: Carousel by Birgit Kerr and Alana McCarthy; raindrops from The Weather by SussieM Designs; fonts: CK Becky

A Brenna layout

Jess Gordon has a pretty new kit out today called, So Flirty. I got to play with it over the weekend and here's what I made with it.

journaling: Brenna, You are struggling to keep up in kindergarten right now. I know it is hard for
you, but I also know that you can do this. I’m proud of the way you have learned to control your temper during the last year and a half- that was a struggle too, but you did it. You’ll master your kindergarten math and reading skills too. Daddy and I will be right here helping you.
~January 9, 2008
credits: So Flirty by Jess Gordon at SunshineStudioScraps.com; The Daily Digi Template 1 by Janet Phillips; fonts: CK Becky

Yes, Brenna is struggling with her reading skills already. I don't know what the problem is. One minute she does everything just fine and when you ask her the same thing again an hour later she will just tell you "I don't know" or give you a completely incorrect answer. I hope it really is just a confidence issue and that with enough repetition and encouragement that she can get over this. She is struggling with blending and segmenting, which is exactly what Carissa struggled with at this point in kindergarten too. She's been a bit more temperamental this week, I think mostly because she is stressed about not doing as well as she is expected too- which probably only makes the problem worse. We'll keep working on it and hopefully she will start to relax a bit and let things sink in more easily.

Project 365 and other new layouts

Well, we survived the first week back at school this week. It sure is hard to get myself out of bed that early after two weeks of being able to sleep until the time my body wants to get up. So, we are officially back in full routine again- school, dance, music practices, etc. Beth has caught the nasty sinus bug we were passing around (and evidently still are), so she's been the one laying on the couch all day coughing. She was feeling a bit better today than last night, so hopefully with another day of rest she will be on her way to getting over it. It's a good thing I stocked up on Sudafed and cough medicine a few weeks ago, as we have been going through a lot of it the month.

Project 365 is once again a big buzz around the digital scrapping community this new year. I didn't really participate last year, but I certainly took more than enough photos to qualify number-wise- they just weren't necessarily one a day. I decided to jump in and go ahead and put together my photos from last year in a photo-book format using the awesome set of templates Amy Pearson is giving out at scrapbookgraphics in the P365 forum. I'm really loving the clean lines and white space on these and how it really lets the photos shine.

Credits: Amy Pearson's Project 365 templates and Monica Guerra Leiria (mglscraps) Dreams In Color Collection from www.scrapbookgraphics.com, font: CK Becky

I've scrapped through March so far. If you'd like to see the rest of the pages I've done so far, I'm posting them over at facebook. You can see them HERE. As I get more done I'll be adding them there.

And this year I've started taking photos for P365- we'll see how long I keep it up. I have a feeling it will devolve more into what I did last year, but that worked out pretty well I thought. No pressure, no committment LOL Here's a layout I did of my first 7 pictures. I used TracyB's Templates With Attiude Combo 1 set, which she made specifically to go with a P365 project. She is also co-hosting a P52 challenge over at FunkyPlayground and will be giving out templates once a week- check that out here.

credits: Everything at FunkyPlaygroundDesigns.com: Templates with Attitude Combo 1 by Tracy Blankenship; I Love Winter Wellworn Solids and Embellishments by Jaime Young; Everyday Whites by Corina Nielsen

We've had a couple of pretty big snowstorms during the last month and I scrapped some of the pictures I took.

journaling: Winter finally arrived in full force December 15, 2008- frigid temperatures, the lowest recorded in well over a century, snow, ice and freezing wind kept us bundled up inside the house with the fireplace turned on to chase away the chill. Usually the temperature will warm up enough during the day to melt off the accumulated snow and ice on the trees, but not this day.... I took these pictures in the middle of the afternoon.
The breeze would gently blow and knock the snow off the branches making it seem like it was snowing still.
credits: Snowberry by Franziska Altmann at scrapbookgraphics; Templates with Attitude Trios 1 by Tracy Blankenship at FunkyPlaygroundDesigns; fonts: SP Wonderful Wendy

journaling: Winter came down to our home one night
Quietly pirouetting in on silvery-toed slippers of snow,
And we, we were children once again.
~Bill Morgan, Jr.
credits: Frostbite and Frostbite Extras by Saxon Holt at scrapbook-elements; Templates with Attitude 10 by Tracy Blankenship at funkyplaygrounddesigns.com; I can See Clearly layer style by Misty Cato; Acrylic drop shadow layer style by Traci Reed
fonts: Journaling Hand, LB Angela Squiggle

and I did this layout the other night for this week's Studio Starts challenge at scrapbookgraphics.

journaling: Brenna is so happy to be in a dance class this year and looks forward to Monday evenings when it is her turn to wear tutus and dance shoes.
credits: Victorian Strawberry by Flergs and Kaye Winieki at scrapbookgraphics.com; Worn Overlays by Manuela Zimmerman; The Bricks Lightroom Preset by Kelsey Smith; fonts: CK Becky

Now, people came and went casually, ....

........speaking to Bill or only nodding, but not making an issue of it either way.
-from "Living Dead in Dallas" by Charlaine Harris.

the post title is part of a little game I found on Kate Hadfield's blog.

Rules:
* Pick up the nearest book. Right now.
* Go to page 56.
* Find the 5th sentence.
* Write that sentence in your Title.
* Copy these instructions as a comment on your Title.
* Don’t get your favourite book or the best one, but the closest to you right now.

Fun! ;)

This is the book I was reading earlier today- finished it ;) Robin's been talking about the Sookie Stackhouse series for a while now and I finally looked them up at the library. This is book #2. I haven't read #1 yet as it hasn't come in yet. Normally I like to read a series all in order, but I couldn't wait any more to start reading LOL