spirit week 2011

Yes I have been scrapping. It has been a slow process with the kiddos here. But that's okay. To help me move along, I printed a boatload of collages in 8X10 size so I can quickly scrap a bunch of events and won't feel so overwhelmed. Plus it was fun making the collages!! I used Picasa 3 to create them. It's a free program, and I like free. Plus the learning curve is pretty simple which makes it perfect for me!!

Anywho... here are the pictures of Kira during the schools Spirit Week this April. I messed up and forgot to print the pictures that I had put the information on and instead did the blank pictures so I used some stickers to tell the story of that week. I used pawprints since the schools mascot is the Jaguar and the colors are blue and white. Worked well. The printing on the journaling strips is Kira's printing. I had found a site that did a free create your own font and we did hers. Love it. It's from over a year ago... but it still works.

And here is today's picture of the day. This lamp is/was mine when I was living at home. My mom painted it and entered it in a competition and won a blue ribbon for it. When I left home, she wouldn't let me take it out of the house. I know... not very nice of her. Fast forward to this summer when Kira is staying with my parents. Suddenly the lamp can leave the house WITH KIRA!!! I mean really?? I was in my 20's and I couldn't take it with me but heck why not give it to a 10 year old. hmph.

Anywho... it is now Kira's. I have already told her she cannot take it out of the house when she moves out. Seems fair to me. She just laughed at me. It looks great on her desk. It is in the same spot as when I had it on that very same desk. Good things bear repeating.

Check out the amazing clock that Kira made at the Corning Glass Factory while she was on vacation with Nana and Papa. I love the fish. You cannot see it but at the 12, 3, 6 and 9 positions, she has actually used bits of glass to write out the numbers on those squares. So neat!! Maybe I'll tell her that can't leave the house when she moves out either!! ;)

freehand scraps sketch contest...

and the Punky Sprouts sketch contest that I have missed the deadline for :(

The first layout is for the Freehand Scraps sketch contest over at the Pagemaps blog. Here is the sketch....

And here is my take on the sketch. I had fun using all those thumbnail pictures that come with your order with Winkflash. They were perfect as embellishments on this layout. Some Doodlebug Easter pattern papers I have had for awhile, DCWV solid cardstock and Making Memories rub on letters for the title. Pretty sure all the blooms are primas, if not they are a giving a good impression of primas!! LOL

This year the kids moved so fast in finding the eggs, I didn't get many of the actual finding the eggs pictures. Kira would find an egg and then pose. Love it!! Alex was a blur in most pictures. Even with the sport mode on the camera!! He's fast!

This next layout was supposed to be for the Punky Sprouts sketch challenge but since I went away to enjoy some me time, I didn't get it entered (or completed) in time. But happy to have scrapped the pictures. Here's the sketch....

Here is the layout. This continues the wet egg hunt theme that was happening this year. Even my parents got in on the action. They were keeping dry but they looked just like a couple of peeps! I really really wanted to get a black marker and put some eyes on those hoods. I don't think they would have appreciated it but it was a funny thought. Yes I voiced that thought as well which was received with some snarls from both of them!!

Today I took the kids on a photo shoot around town. Trying to get some new pictures to replace their birthday ones from last year. Yes I am about six months late for Alex's but the timing would not work out, and Picture People is not the greatest place to get pictures taken anymore. For that I am really sad as I have loved going there since before Kira was even born. I don't like the direction the company is headed and their photographers no longer care about capturing the personalities of the kids but instead need to sell photos to be considered a good hire.

Personally I would think that if you have captured my child's personality, I would be willing to spend a small fortune to get those portraits into my house (and I have been known to do such things) So I opted for taking the pictures myself.

When I can narrow down the ones I am going to have enlarged and hang in the house, I will post those ones. If you want to scroll through the rest, they are on my Facebook page... all 143 of them!! Those are just the ones that I am considering enlarging. I need to narrow those down to the best four for each of the kids and then a few of them together so about 11 total. Should only take me a few months to do that!! ;)

wet eggs second page

This is the second page to Alex's Wet Eggs layout (shown here). I used a Pagemap from June 2011 (of course I did) for this layout. I had to switch it around a bit to make it work, but this was the starting point for this page.

And here's my take on it. I used the same papers from the first page to keep things flowing since they will be side by side in his album. I ran out of T's in my letter stickers so had to go with END instead of AFTER. It works for me and I am happy with it. Love his smile when he finished the hunt. He was so proud of himself... and so cold. Poor kid.

I finished this up before my trip away, but didn't get a chance to post. So here it is now. Hoping to take a decent picture of the layout I finished today so I can post tomorrow. It could happen!!

where i have been

I took a few vacation days to go visit my twin up in Maine. We had a great time with lots of laughs, good times and sun! She took me to Bar Harbor. Hadn't been there in ten years so it was a nice treat to go. Wanting to go back again and do some of the beaches. Instead we did some retail therapy (which was loads of fun).

Here we are at Jordan Pond. Lovely little place. Good Maine blueberries there as well. Had to sneak a few off the bushes as they were beginning to ripen. Yummy!!

Love my twin and miss her. Glad there is internet so we can stay in touch.

After my fun in the sun vacation, I had to drive to Syracuse to pick up my offspring. That was a long drive from Bangor, Maine to Syracuse, New York in one day. Wasn't as bad as I was thinking it would be and was very uneventful. Wish I could say the trip back to New Hampster was as nice... but it wasn't. It was exceedingly hot and the traffic in Massachusetts was horrible. No reason to slow down but we did... many times. Don't get it but was stuck in a few pockets of cars.

Took a picture to prove how hot it was on Friday July 22 while we were driving. Very hot according to my van. And I was very happy to have had enough gas to get us home. If we ran into much more traffic, it was going to be VERY close.

Today we took the offspring to see the new Winnie the Pooh movie. They had already seen it with Nana and Papa but agreed to go see it again with mommy and daddy. The three of us wore our Pooh best to see him. Kira even had Pooh and Tigger in her hair. Daddy got to take the picture since he didn't have any of the 100 Acre Woods friends on his clothing. I know... it's a horrible thing.

So that is where I have been. Hoping to work through the laundry and cleaning this week and spend some time in my scrap room creating. Never know... the kids may cooperate. Enjoy the sun and fun. I know we are since the heat has broken here. I love when we can turn off the A/C's and open the windows. See you soon!!

wet egg hunt

I did manage to scrap a couple of pages last week. Of course it took me pretty much all week to get it done since I was working on getting both of the kids rooms picked up and ready for them when they are done hanging with Nana and Papa.

This sketch is from May 2011 Pagemaps. I saw it and knew I had to use it for something and since the Easter pictures were hanging on my desk, I used them.

Here is my take on that sketch. I used all the bright colors since Kira's coat is just as bright as the papers! Same reason for using all those butterflies... they are in her coat. This is when she did her egg hunt at the Rec Center. I used DCWV Spring Stack paper for this layout. The letters were attached to chipboard and then I put glossy accents over the top of them to give them the wet look. Thought it worked well for the title!

I can see that sketch being used more over the years. It is a great one for all the layouts I do with tons of pictures!! Thanks for looking!!

I need to get the second page to Alex's Egg Hunt pictures posted too. I think it is still on my camera. Maybe tomorrow... after I get back from Kelly's Roast Beef!! Yup we are headed down to Peabody, Massachusetts and we don't even have Alex with us to get a haircut. Hubby has some business down there so I am tagging along for the lunch. yummy... roast beef. See you then!!

project life 2011- weeks 11-15

Next group to share. Then I'll have to get back to taking pictures of them and posting. I'll add it to my list of things to do!

Week 11-

Week 12-

Week 13-

Week 14-

Week 15-

So happy that Kira's room is done. Should be finishing up Alex's after breakfast. Then I can work on laundry and the rest of the house. It's been suffering due to the concentrated effort on the kids rooms. I must say it does feel good to rid the house of the excess stuff. It will feel even better to donate as much as we have. Hoping to give most of it to the Rec Center Preschool Playgroup. I know the kids would like that as they both enjoyed all the toys that were there.

Off to have something to eat... I'm hungry.

project life 2011- weeks 7-10

Four more weeks coming your way!

Week 7-

Week 8-

Week 9-

Week 10-

Didn't do much yesterday. The day got away from me. Hoping to make today a better one. Would love to get Kira's room done. It's that never ending project that won't go away but needs to be done. The hard part is really done. We did get the trash out, 7 bags of stuffed animals are in hibernation and heading to the garage loft and the desk is stained and in the house. Need to rearrange the room and get things placed where they need to go.

oh yeah... and tackle the closet. That's very scary and I am not looking forward to that. Me scared.

Have a super one!

project life 2011- weeks 4-6

Posting a few more weeks. I'll have to take more pictures of the other weeks soon!! Enjoy and have a great fourth of July! Be safe.

Week 4 of 2011-

Week 5-

Week 6-

I'll post more next time I am here. Still working on Grandma Clark's desk in the garage. I should have only one more coat of stain to put on. It is looking so wonderful. I know she would be happy. I'm sure Kira will enjoy it as well.

project life 2011- first three weeks

I have been doing my Project Life for 2011 and took pictures of the first 15 weeks that I have completed. Then they sat in my computer for a bit. Now they are edited and ready for display. I'll do a few at a time since I am a bit busy to actually scrap.

I am doing Project Life as a Picture a Day with journaling. I love that this kit can be used in so many different ways. Click the Project Life banner on my blog and you can read all about it. I am thinking of maybe scanning and taking pictures of all the kids art to create a couple of digital books for them using the Project Life templates. We'll see how that works for me.

Anywho... this is Week 1 of our 2011 album.

Week 2.... yup, we had A LOT of snow this year. Many snow days were recorded.

Week 3... Alex had a bruise between his eyes. He did battle with a wall at preschool and lost. I love his sad little face he put on for me to take the picture. He smiled so big right after.

Promise to post more. I love using this as a way to record some of the small things I may not actually scrapbook and would definitely forget over the years. How else could I remember their lunch boxes this year? Or that I am totally in love with my label maker from my parents??

Seriously... how did I live without one for so long?

See you around the bend!