February Scrapbook Pages

I got a few pages done in February, and even a few among them that were ‘just because.’ Thanks Megan for the birthday gift of my own custom handwriting font from Darcy Baldwin, I’ve been using it lots!

  credits: Studio Mix #16- I Heart Photography by the Studio Girls- kit, addon, B-sides alpha, solids, and templates; font: LB Ali

  credits: at scrapbookgraphics.com: Glamorazzi by Tangie Baxter and Irene Alexeeva, Impressions of Enchantment by The Studio Girls (alpha by Dawn Inskip, recolored); Template 271 by Yin Designs; font: 2Peas Platform Shoes

  credits: by Kim Jensen at The Lily-Pad: Rhyme & Reason, Chain My Heart, In Stitches Alpha
font: TXT Scribbletti, Chromosome Heavy, custom print font by Darcy Baldwin

  credits: at The-LilyPad.com: Sahlin Studio: Brown Paper Packages, Rejuvenate addon; Rachel Young: Christmas Waltz Freebie; Kate Hadfield: Under the Tree, Candycane alpha and numbers; Pixelworks: Candycane papers (retired); Washi Tape by PuglyPixel font: custom font by Darcy Baldwin

  journaling: Brenna and her friends have discovered the joys of talking on the telephone with each other. They like to talk and play games online together, sometimes for hours.
credits: at scrapbookgraphics.com: Gift of a Friend Collection and Page Templates Vol. 4 by Thaty Borges, Gesso Messy Episode No. 5 Borders and Paperworn Art Styles by Tangie Baxter; Messy Date Stamps V2 by Michelle Coleman
font: custom font by Darcy Baldwin

 
credits: Studio Mix 17 -Symphony of Spring and Studio Mix 17- Symphony of Spring Addon by The Studio Girls and Baby Bee Garden by Lorie Davison (landscape paper, fence) at scrapbookgraphics.com
font: Mistral, custom print font by Darcy Baldwin, Gigi

Smitten – an SBG Valentine’s Day Blog Train

Welcome to the Smitten with SBG Valentine’s Day blog train. We hope to make your day a bit sweeter with minikits and QPs this year!  There is also a sale going on in the SBG store. Simply type the word
SMITTENWITHSBG
into the search box @ Scrapbookgraphics Store to see ALL of the great deals the designers have for you.

Download my QP HERE or by clicking on the preview.

Your next stop is Flor’s blog for another goodie I know you’ll be smitten with!

If you get lost along the way, you might want to stop by the SBG blog! A full list of the blog train stops will be posted there!

Valentine’s Day Festivities

We didn’t really do much for Valentine’s day this year because of things that just had to be done this weekend- ticket booth decor to be put together, dance practices, and Olympics to watch. We aren’t huge sports fans, but we always make a point of sitting and watching at least some of the Olympics when they come around. Figure skating is one of our absolute favorites in the winter set and the pairs kicked it off Sunday night. We actually did have the option of going out as the youth were offering babysitting at the church, but I was wanting to see a movie and the times just weren’t working on the movies I wanted to see with the babysitting hours. Either the movies started too early or too late, and I just didn’t see spending a bunch of money on a movie I wasn’t sure I would enjoy. So, we just stayed home and watched Olympics. Mark brought me flowers yesterday and the kids got a few conversation hearts and some valentine socks for the girls and a few $ for Bryce, so the day did not go unacknowledged.

The first grade valentine celebration was on Friday, and since it was only a half-day of school the party was at 11A. The teachers decided to go with a breakfast food theme, and we had to think of something healthy to bring as the school got some sort of grant that requires it- no loads of cookies, cakes, candy and what-not at parties any more. I was at a bit of a loss as to what to bring for a while, but when I was walking through the mall on Thursday afternoon looking for some peace sign earrings for Brenna's hippie costume and I went by one of the pretzel places and that reminded me that I had a quick recipe for soft pretzels. So,  Sarah and I made pretzels Friday morning to take to the party.

Here’s the recipe ;)
Soft Pretzels
3 pkgs dry yeast
2 1/4 C warm water
1 tsp sugar
*Stir yeast, water and sugar together until dissovled, and let rise until foamy.
*Add 6 3/4 C flour, kneading well until smooth. Let rise 15 minutes.
*In a small bowl, mix 1/2 C lukewarm water and 4 tsp. baking soda.
*Shape dough into rolls and slice. Roll out each slice into pencil shape and twist into a pretzel shape. Dip each pretzel into soda water and place on greased sheet. Sprinkle with salt or other mixture of your choice. I used a cinnamon-sugar mix made with 1 T sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon.
Bake at 375 F for 15 minutes.
*Makes 30 medium size pretzels, or 60 mini size.

 
journaling: Sarah helped make mini heart-shaped, cinnamon-sugar pretzels to take to Brenna’s first grade valentine party. Healthy & yummy, they were a hit with everyone!
credits: by Tania Shaw at funkyplaygrounddesigns: My One True Love, Newsprint Journaling Tags, Layered Up in You Volume 3; fonts: Bradley Hand ITC

and this LO is not related to any particular event, just recording a day when Sarah was in one of her goofy moods and was laughing outrageously at just about everything. I did it for the Studio NeeNee playday at Scrapbookgraphics.
 
journaling:   Some days Sarah is in a really funny mood and she just laughs and laughs at every little thing, whether it is funny or not. laughter is contgious, and soon you can’t help but laugh right along with her.
credits: Estranged Collection, Moments in Time alpha, and Metallicalpha: Red by Flergs, Templatz Vol 3 by NeeNee; fonts: Hopscotch Plain, Gigi, Century Gothic

And a couple of layouts showing off the first grade valentine festivities that Brenna participated in this year.

 
journaling: It’s time for the annual school tradition- exchanging valentines with your classmates. Brenna had fun getting her cards ready and decorating a container to collect them all in for the party on Feb 12th. First grade
credits: My Beloved by Pixel Works and Rachel Young at scrapartist; Scrap Pad Templates Designer Love: Amy Wolff by Amy Martin at The-LilyPad; fonts: Typewriter, Ticket Capitals Impressed

journaling: Brenna’s first grade class celebrated the day of love with a brunch themed celebration before the end of their half-day of class. Word searches, passing out valentines and a box contest along with lots of yummy food kept the kids well entertained during the hour.
credits: by Dianne Rigdon at scrapartist.com: Happy Together papers, solids and elements, Shabby Love elements soft things and shiny things; template by Amy Martin from Port Au Prince at songbirdavenue; fonts: Typewriter

Recent Scrapbook Layouts

This LO was inspired by a cute little Valentine decor canvas on an easel that I bought at Target a few weeks ago.

 
credits: at scrapartist.com: Set My Soul On Fire by Pixel Works, Shmootzy Alpha 1 by Nancie Rowe Janitz; fonts: Snowshoe

We had our 4th annual year-in-review layout exchange among my group of local scrapping friends Friday night at our monthly crop. Funny story: I was running a bit behind and didn’t get the layout done until Friday afternoon, so at 2 o’clock before the crop/exchange that evening I was uploading my pages to the Copy Store to have them printed. I got a call about an hour later saying they were ready and I was able to pick them up on the way to TDC for dance class. Once I got to Trinity later that night, I find Bonnie on the phone with the gal at the copy shop telling her that Becky is on the way with her files to have them printed too and that she can send her prints with Becky- it’s just a few minutes before closing at this point. After Bonnie gets off the phone she tells me how when she went in to the store to drop off her files earlier the gal starts to ask her what sort of paper she wants it on, etc. and then she says ‘the lady this afternoon wanted them on glossy cardstock’, and Bonnie replies that yes, she will take whatever Melinda wanted LOL! This was the same gal that printed up my huge pre-Christmas order in December, so I think she has my preferences down at this point ;)

Here’s my LO that I gave to them:

journaling: 2009 was made up of lots of little things that kept us busy nearly every day. Bryce continued playing trumpet in Jazz band. He fills his spare time perfecting his gaming skills. Beth, Carissa, and Brenna continued their dance educations in several disciplines joining the competitive companies at The Dance Center. Sarah finally got to start dancing too over the summer. Beth & Carissa helped their school’s Battle of the Books team to their best-ever finish in the city-wide competition. Melinda played oboe for the Steve Green concert in April and stretched her photography skills with the Project 365 (a photo a day) during the year. We spent time with Grandma and explored some of the local sights in Colorado including the Great Sand Dunes, Picketwire Canyon, and the mountains in the fall. Mark wrote lots of programs for analyzing the GPS capabilities throughout the world.
credits: Every Life Has A Story, Chapter 3 by TheDigiChick.com designers; Template 167 by Yin Designs; staple by Jessica Bolton; fonts: Snowshoe, CK Journaling Condensed

This one is for the ‘Natural Wonders’ playday on the SBG blog today. My most favorite nature photos from last year.

 
credits: at scrapbookgraphics: It's Only Natural Bundle  by Veronica Spriggs, Project 365 Jumpers  by Crystal Livesay; globe from Guy Thing by Dianne Rigdon and Aja Abney at scrapartist
fonts: CK Carbon Copy, CK Becky

 
journaling: Sarah loves to play games, and often comes to me during the day carrying one and saying “play with me!” it’s not really a question, more of a forceful request. It’s easier to take a few minutes and play the game with her than to say no. Who can resist those big eyes and grin? not Mama, and she knows it!!
credits: by Tania Shaw at FunkyPlaygroundDesigns: Layered up in You vol. 5, Just For Fun 1, Funky Sampler Digital Scrapbooking Day, Puffy Stickers Primary Alphas ;
fonts: Jayne Print

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