My Furry Kids

I did this fun layout of my furry kids. They are such precious little beings in my life! These pictures are amongst my favorites of them.

I want to explain some technique I used on this layout. It's so easy that you will be able to do it with no problem! I took a piece of KI Memories lace cardstock and set it over Vineyard Berry cardstock. I sponged colonial white ink over the holes. That's what made the design and texture on my background. Easy, easy! You'll notice that I then used a piece of that lace cardstock as a border of sorts. Four of the embellishments on the page are We R Memory Keepers eyelets. It added a bit to put sparkle in the middle of them. The buttons are actually chipboard buttons covered with stickers. I also glittered the word "love." Scallop borders on the 5x7 are chipboard covered with sticker borders.

These two pets of mine have most certainly grabbed my heart!

My Little Boy Grew Up...

In just 11 days, my little boy that has grown tall and handsome (from little and oh, so cute!) is leaving home. Shane is 20 now, and it's time for him. He is a Manager for a Darque Tan salon, and he's been such an independent soul for so long. I knew this day would be coming soon for him. However, I will miss our daily talks - no matter what time of day it's been. I will miss his smile, his little giggle, and his unending kindness toward people. I listen to him on the phone, and I know what a good professional he has become. He sees things so rationally, but does it with a great big heart.


This is just one part of the layout. The right side will be done after I get some moving pictures, so I will do some more journaling then. On the layout, I have hidden journaling with a couple thoughts for now. Neither of these larger pictures are good quality. the one on the left was taken when Shane was just 9 months old. Yes, he learned to walk at that age, went immediately to running, and has never stopped! the picture on the right was cropped from a family picture we had taken about a month. A mother does what she can to get pictures!


All products used are from CTMH right down to the font. please click on the layout to see a larger view if you'd like!
For this layout, I used Sketch #109 from scrap sketch.

Creative Scrappers - Sketch #60 & Wacky Wednesdays!

I thought I would put all my Creative Scrappers work into one post. I have a feeling that there will be many more posts to come in the next few days, so I'll combine when I can!! I got a lot done when I went to Archiver's for a crop yesterday with my dear mother-in-law!

The first page is sketch #60. Now, they've already released #61, so I'd better get myself in gear after vacation!! Anyway, I saw the layout, and I knew just what pictures I wanted to use. This is my nephew Ryan on the left and on the right is his son Owen. So nice to get generational pages like this! I used all Fancy Pants - paper and embellishments.

Wacky Wednesday for July 8th is a great design! You'll notice that I flipped the pages to suit the pictures I wanted to showcase. This challenge was about layers, and layers I've got!! Here I've used sugar-coated Laundry Line paper, a random scalloped sheet for layering, K&I brads and phrases, and Bazzill flowers. Simple layout, yet just what I want to achieve with these beautiful pictures from Birch Lake.

I cannot show you the design for Wacky Wednesday for July 15th. if I did that, I'd unlock the puzzle that Thynner gave us. What fun to do a puzzle for a sketch! Even if I show you my finsihed design you have no idea if I flipped it turned it or added some more elements - or not! ;)

Jerry and I spent several days at Birch Lake last year with my sister Patti's family. We had a wonderful time and we look back at those pictures with great fondness. This layout is just the parents, with patti and Brian being in the rounded frame. I've used Roam paper from K&I, Bazzill flowers, Making Memories brads, Laundry Line journaling cards, and CTMH rub-ons.

scrap sketch Challenge

I've recently discovered scrap sketch, and I really like their unique designs. This page was fun to do! I took some pictures from last summer up at Birch Lake (where my sister Patti has a site), and I pulled out some Laundry Line sugar-coated paper. I love sugar-coated paper - so much fun! Be sure to click on the picture to make it larger if you'd like to see more detail. Along with the paper, I used Bazzil flowers, Making Memories brads, We R Memory Keepers eyelets, and phrases from K&I. My husband likes this layout, and that's exactly what I was going for!

Page Maps Challenge

I may be late for this challenge at Page Maps (that's what vacation does - you have to catch up!), but I love this layout of my ever cute and smiley niece and nephews. They belong to my sister Patti, and they are all the nicest, sweetest kids. Jerry and I spent some time at my sister's campsite last year (aren't they lucky - they have the space all summer!) and we took these fun pictures down by the lake. Paper is from the Roam collection from K&I, embellishments are from Laundry Line, Prima Flowers, Making Memories, and rub-on letters are from CTMH.

Creative Scrappers Sketch #58

I thought this was a really fun sketch! Something I'm not used to doing is leaving a lot of space on my pages. Gosh, my books are already so big! But I like challenges because they make me think about different kinds of scrapbooking, and so often the result is something we may never have thought of!
I wanted to pull out some pictures of my Dad for this sketch. He passed away in 1993, so every once in awhile it's really nice to pull out a bundle of pictures that revolve around him that I have never scrapped.
I remember this day. Dad had decided to build a huge bonfire. and it was hot! So funny!! You'll see in the bottom picture Jerry was laying on the ground to toast a hot dog! I used all CTMH products for this layout. The paper is Back Country.

The round letters are It's a Guy Thing, and colored Dimensional Elements are matching to the Back Country paper. I've done a close up for you of the fire. I achieved that look by putting Liquid Glass on the fire. Isn't it great? It gives the fire dimension, and I made it crack a little to give that crackling look to the fire. Enjoy these pictures!!

Just Give Me Tuscany...

I have been spending the last coupling of days working on our Mediterranean Cruise album. After two albums and so many pages, I am about 10 pages away from completely it. Yippee! I wanted to share this double layout with you from our day in Tuscany. I have to give credit to some wonderful friends for taking some pictures of us. On the right layout, we didn't even know we were having our picture taken. Jenny-May shot that picture and sent it a couple months after the cruise. Oh, Jenny-May, what a gift! The left layout pictures are thanks to Sara. She grabbed the camera and took pictures of us. Thank you so much, Sara! These pictures mean the world to us!

For paper and ribbon, I used Cosmo Cricket from the Fleuriste line. The letters and metal accessory are CTMH. The loads of flowers are from Prima Naturals and Bazzill. You can click on the layout to make it larger.

This was our favorite port. We dreamed of going to Tuscany, and here it was for us to take in. Let me tell you the journaling on the page, and you will know what this day meant to us. "Tuscany was a dream come true for us. We always wanted to walk 'under the Tuscan sun.' the vineyards were amazing to see. Villa Maionchi was so green and beautiful. This truly was a day dropped from God. From lunch in the vineyard to our kiss in the courtyard, the day was perfect in every way."

Michelle's Color Challenge

Over at Creative Scrappers, one of the designers, Michelle, is having a color challenge. Her son picked out 4 markers in the colors he wanted us to work with. These are pictures from a long time ago that I had not scrapped yet. (See, even an avid scrapper isn't necessarily "caught up.") This is my Shane at just 14 months old in 1990. Isn't he adorable?

I used paper from a few CTMH paper packets. The Sunflower is from Animal Cookies, the Dutch Blue is from Stardust, the Tulip is from Perfect Day, and the Outdoor Denim is cardstock. I take no credit for the idea of mixing! My good friend Karen has been teaching me through her artwork that you can mix it all to gain your look. (Check out her work!)

The ghost letters are from SEI, the ribbon and brads are from CTMH, and the clear buttons are from Buttons Galore & More. I used Liguid Glass to adhere paper to the back of the clear buttons to help them match the layout and give them a more interesting look.

We're liking this layout in our house - even Shane! I hope you pick up a technique or two by looking! As always, click on the layout to make it larger.

Page Maps Sketch Contest..A Heritage Layout

I have had these wonderful pictures sitting on my desk. I decided to put them to use today on a heritage layout. The sketch I used is for a Page Maps contest. Be sure to check it out!

It may be a little known fact, that I was a baseball player when I was young. I played little league on the boy's team because WAY BACK THEN (lol!) there wasn't a girl's team. Anyway, this layout is my youngest sister Julie wearing my uniform in one layout and my cap another year. She was only 3 years on the left and 2 on the right. I love these pictures and have been waiting for something special to do with them.

I used Cosmo Cricket Twist and Shout paper. The diecuts, letters, and tags are matching from that line as well. The ribbon is from My Mind's Eye Laundry Line collection, and the buttons are CTMH. This is going to be a fun layout to have in my heritage book!!

Beautiful Colors!

I didn't know what I would think about working with these colors. Every Monday, I anxiously await the color challenge on Jeanette Lynton's blog from Close To My Heart. I do think she has an amazing eye for putting color together and creating!

I am working on finishing my cruise book (Still. Yes, I kow we want last October!) But I am glad that I had such color inspiration for these pages about Nice, France. I'll tell you a secret. I am not fond of the color Brown Bag, and I wondered what on earth I was going to do with it! But look at what awesome journaling blocks that color makes - LOVE it! For Juniper and Creme Brulee, I used pieces from the Key To My Heart packet. Oh, that paper is gorgeous!! The two large dark flowers are Bazzill, but the rest are Prima Naturals. The rest of the accessories are CTMH Creme Brulee.

Oh, I am thankful for scrapbooking. This was a long lingering layout that I took my time making. My husband and I enjoyed every minute of the time we spent in Nice, France. The people we lovely, the chocolate was rich, the soaps in the shops smelled wonderful, and the markets were amazing. Truly, a trip we will never forget.

Thank you, Jeanette, not only for the color inspiration, but for the amazing cruise. You'll never know how much it meant to us.

Capturing My Joy

I can't even begin to tell you what it means to me to spend an evening with two "main men." On this Friday evening, I got to do just that. I know some people would look at our little family and wonder why it is such a precious thing that three of us would have time together. Well, Jerry works erratic hours as an auto body painter. He's been with the company 20 years, and he generally works a good day shift, but if there is work, he stays. And if he is busy, he will go to bed extremely early so that he can make it through the next long day. Shane many long days as a Manager of a tanning salon (yes, it's a great business!), and I never quite know when he'll be home. Other than to sleep - that's a certainty!

So when we were all able to go out to dinner, well, I loved it! Jerry treated us to fajitas at Chili's. We ordered the combo for two and then my boys wanted to try the Texas Cheese Fries and the Snacking Onion "things" with jalepenos. What a great meal of laughter and hot, spicy food!

Now that you've heard a little bit of the story, I'll tell you about the layout. We took the pictures in our backyard. I chose Paper Loft Well Worn paper for this along with 2 sheets of sanded down textured CTMH Outdoor Denim. The flowers and large letters are die-cuts from CTMH (a promotion last November). The epoxy letters are Latte from DCWV. All the Outdoor Denim accessories are from CTMH.

I've got journaling tags stacked on the side and attached with large brads. I don't mind if people that look through my books read the top tag, but there are some things written on the inside tags about our conversations that I want Shane to remember in his older years. That's part of my legacy to him on these pages.

Another thing. This pages is the Grand Finale pattern from the CTMH Imagine book. The right side easily allows for a 2" x 10-1/2" strip of typewritten journaling. I RARELY type anything in my books. I use tags, I print, I use cursive, and sometimes I even make mistakes. I think it's really, really important to handwrite as much as possible. I know in this day and age when all want our pages to be the prettiest or the most perfect, we often turn to the computer to journal. But, oh, how the story will come alive in 50 years when Shane is explaining this night to his children and running his hands across my handwritten tags. So I've learned to love how I write - whether it be good, bad, or ugly.

As always, click on the picture if you want to take a larger view!

Julie's Youngest Three

My youngest sister Julie is 10 years younger than I am, and she has four children. Her oldest son Nick is not pictured here, but I had pictures of her other three children. Caine, in the picture on the top, is our godchild. We love this picture of him, and I was really happy to be able to scrapbook it. And look at the smiles on the two youngest - Jaimen and Miranda. They are adorable! I was able to chat with all of these kids last weekend, and I loved catching up!

I used a Basic Grey sketch from October 2007 for my pattern. You can find these and all kinds of other cool sketches at Page Maps. Let tell you a bit about the product I used for this layout:

• White Textured Cardstock - CTMH
• Twilight Textured Cardstock - CTMH (scored in a grid with the Scor-Pal and then sanded)
• Cranberry Plaid B & T from Route 66 - CTMH (short right edge against white journaling piece scalloped with green EK Success corner rounder)
• Sweet Leaf Ric Rac - CTMH
• White Daisy Craft Button - CTMH
• Chipboard Frame - CTMH
• Cranberry Waxy Flax - CTMH
• Chipboard Stars & Saying - My Mind's Eye
• Rub Ons - My Mind's Eye
• Prisma Glitter - CTMH