2013 Project Life | Week 17: April 21 - April 27 (and a BAT is in the house!)

Wow. What a difference a couple of days makes. On Sunday and Monday is was cold and snowy. By Wednesday we were sitting outside and my daughter was even doing her homework outside. Love that!

I used Becky Higgins Amber Edition for these pages. I went for a really simple design this week. I didn't even use any staples or tape anything. Changing things up a little bit I guess.

As I put these pages together tonight we have a darn BAT in our house. Yes ... a BAT. One of the bad things of the weather warming up. Our front door was left ajar a bit and I think that's how he got in. Argh! My son and I were sitting in the porch - him doing homework, me putting together Project Life. I interrupted him a couple of times because I was hearing something, but he never heard it and we never saw anything. Then a picture frame was knocked off the table next to me startling us and scaring our poor dog. My son commented that that was strange. Then ... we figured out what must have knocked off the picture frame (RIGHT NEXT TO ME!) ... because we saw this BIG bat flying around.

Try as we might we could not catch him. Then ... joy of joys ... we lost him. We could not find hiim for the the life of us. EEEK! After a while we turned off all the lights in the house - left an outside light on and made a tapping noise by the door. (We read on the internet that might get it to fly outside). Well ... that did work. It got it to come out of hiding. The stupid bat swooped over my head a bunch of times but he never swooped out the door. My son almost caught him again but he got away ... and then unfortunately never came out of hiding again. OK ... that freaks us out. I'm calling animal control in the morning in hopes that they can do something for us. I'm not too thrilled with having a bat in my house. EEEEK! (I even made note on this week's Project Life pages about what was happening as I was scrapping the pages!)

Wish us luck please that we can find this thing before it terrorizes us again!

The Story ... Controlled Chaos

I put these pages together earlier this week. I created them for a new release from Simply Tiffany Studios coming out on Friday at Pixels and Co. She's got some simply awesome dual page templates that she's releasing. I love multi photo pages so they're perfect for me! Check 'em out!!

I snapped these photos of my kids a week or so ago. They were being wild and crazy chasing each other around the house and I eventually sent them outside to continue the chase. I loved watching them run around and laugh. They're quite entertaining I must say!

2013 Calendar (yes indeed, I'm making a calendar in April!)

I bet I know what you're thinking. What in the heck is she doing? It's the end of April and she's making a 2013 calendar NOW. Weird. Well, it was totally a spur of the moment thing. I was getting ready to head out of the house for work this morning and as I walked past the kitchen desk and into the mudroom I thought that there was some space on the wall where I had two 8-1/2x11 calendars hung up last year and that is just bare. It needed something and all of a sudden it bugged me. So ... I decided to throw together this quick year at a glance calendar.

It's going to serve a couple of purposes. #1 It will fill that space that was practically screaming at me saying "Hang Something Here NOW!" AND #2 it will give us a quick glimpse of the family as we walk by the kitchen desk and into the mudroom. See ... makes total sense, right?

Besides, this is a 16x20 calendar and it's only $6 to print at Costco. Makes even more sense, right! LOL!

Credits:
For this calendar I used Simply Tiffany Studio's Year at a Glance Calendar Posters and Robyn Meirerotto's Lucky papers and elements. Easy peasy. I put it together in about an hour. Cool!

An evening with friends

My son (or was it my daughter?) snapped this photo of some girlfriends and me at a superbowl party we went to at a friend's house this year. I'm so glad he (or possibly she?) snapped this picture because this photo is about all there is for photos from the party. It was a fun evening and I guess I was too busy chatting to pull out my camera. I don't think we (and I mean the women) even watched a whole lot of the game. In previous years we really have watched the game. Just not so much this year. Oh well! It's more about the social part of the evening than the game, right? The men and boys watched the game at least so they could tell us all about it.

So ... scrappy friends ... Pixels & Co. has a monthly "Company Stash" - a collection of kits from each of the designers that all coordinate. LOVE that! For this page I used a couple of kits from the April Stash. It makes creating a page so easy since all the kits work together!

Credits:
Everything from Pixels & Co.:
Hey There papers by Robyn Meierotto
Off We Go paper & elements by Mye DeLeon
Anywhere paper (solid paper) by Karla Dudley
Lets Go elements (paint spatter) by Ardent Sparrow

Oma ... you are loved ...

The kids and I went up north a couple of weekends ago and spent the weekend at my mom's house (Oma). (The hubby was out of town.) It was fun hanging out and relaxing. Sadly, we hadn't been up there for a long time (since Christmas). I really like this picture that I snapped of my mom and my kids, so of course I had to scrap it! ;)

I was inspired by a page I saw in the Pixels & Co. gallery by Jennifer Flaherty so I used her layout for my start for this page. I used a paper stacked template by Scotty Girl Design and the So Happy Together kit (papers, alpha, and elements) by Karen Funk. I added stitches from the Co-Curricular kit by Audrey Neal and a Jumbo Sentiment Card No. 1 by Karla Dudley.

Happy Scrapping everyone!

A Gamer's Life ... A flipped page. What do you think? Which is better?

OK, so I  posted this page last night but after I finished it and went to bed I was thinking about it and I wasn't sure that I liked that my kids were so visibly pointing/looking to the right and all the weight of the page was on the right. I wondered if it almost felt like they were looking off the page. I decided to try flipping the page. But then again, maybe not. Any thoughts? Which way do you think feels better/more right?

I'm torn. Ahh ... such important decisions. If only all of life's decisions were this unimportant! But still ... I care!!

Here's my new version:

Here's my original version:

Credits:
Geeked Washi Tapes, Album Cards, Papers, Doodled Soup, Word Stickers and Buttons by Karla Dudley
Coordinates Templates April v. 1 by Simply Tiffany Studios

A Gamer's Life

My son has been a gamer for a long time. Everyone knows it’s his favorite pastime. My daughter on the other hand has absolutely no interest in gaming. She’d rather bake and decorate a cake. My son thinks it would be fun if they could game together sometime so he’s been offering to teach her how to play COD on the PS3 for a while now. She always says thanks but no thanks. While I’m totally ok that she’s not a gamer, I do think it would be fun if they could game together sometimes, and I love that he wants to play with his sister!
Today was different. When my son asked my daughter to play, she said yes! He was a patient teacher and she, I think, enjoyed  playing with her big brother. I’m glad they gave it a try!
FYI, in case you’re wondering, my daughter didn’t turn into a gamer. She hasn't played since.

Credits:
Geeked Washi Tapes, Album Cards, Papers, Doodled Soup, Word Stickers and Buttons by Karla Dudley
Coordinates Templates April v. 1 by Simply Tiffany Studios

2013 Project Life | Week 16: April 14 - April 20

It was a good week. As you can see we're still waiting for spring. I'm sure it'll arrive eventually!

Credits:
Clementine by Becky Higgins
Geeked ("Got Game" button) by Karla Dudley
Clear Essentials (staple) by Karla Dudley
Is it ever going to be summer comic? (eeCard I found on Facebook)

Looking Good! (a retro page ... circa 1980)

I guess I was in the mood to scrap older heritage photos tonight. I decided that since I just scrapped a photo from my side of the family that I'd scrap a photo of my husband's family "way back when." I showed this picture to my hubby and we're guessing it was taken circa 1980, give or take a couple of years!

"Looking Good" seemed like a fitting title. I showed this photo to my daughter and her response ... "Wow! Look at that hair. Just ... wow!"

I used a couple of kits from Just Jaimee for this page. I used a messy stamped alpha that she's releasing at Pixels and Co. tomorrow along with her April Storyteller collection. (The April Storyteller kit seems to be becoming one of my favorites lately!)

Full list of credits:
All kits by Just Jaimee at Pixels & Co.
Messy Stamped Alpha
April Storyteller
Doodled Page Borders
Playground Element Pack (ribbon tie)

A MOMENT IN TIME:Scrapping a photo from the 1950s! (Gesso Painted Newsprint)

Mye DeLeon has an amazing set of papers coming out at Pixels & Co. tomorrow. It's called a Beautiful Mess and it's a set of gesso painted newsprint. It is so awesome!

I decided to pull out this old photo of my dad and his family taken in 1952 to use on one of these papers. I thought it would be cool to put an old photo and "this and that" together on top of the painted paper. I love the way it turned out!

Credits:
Beautiful Mess Gesso Painted Newsprint by Mye DeLeon
Simply Me (papers, journaling cards & elements) by Mye DeLeon
Off We Go (blue butterfly) by Mye DeLeon
Hello (leaf brush) by Creashens
Life Unscripted (yellow butterfly) by Ardent Sparrow

Warning! ... My son cracks me up (and drives me crazy sometimes too!) LOL!

My son makes me laugh sometimes! He can be such a goodball!

Credits:

April Coordinates Vol. 1 by Simply Tiffany Studios (Pixels & Co.)
Feelin Peppy by Just Jaimee (Pixels & Co.)
It's a Guy Thing by Design by Dani (Jessica Sprague)

Traveling to Brazil

My husband spent 10 days in Brazil in April 2013 for client meetings and a military conference. He flew to Sao Paulo on a Wednesday and on Saturday he flew to Rio de Janeiro where he stayed until he flew home the following Saturday night , arriving back home Sunday morning. The kids and I sent him off with instructions that we REALLY hoped he would find some time to see some sites and that he would take pictures he could share with us. As you can see, he got some great shots! He stayed at a beautiful hotel on the beach in Rio. On the weekends he visited the impressive Christ the Redeemer (Cristo Redentor) statue and church, walked and relaxed on the beach, and took a tram up to Sugar Loaf. He worked hard but I’m glad he got to experience a bit of the culture of South America! FYI, all of these photos were taken in Rio.

Credits:
All Products available at Pixels & Co.:
The Good Life elements by Wild Blueberry Ink
Wanderlust stamps by Wild Blueberry Ink
Wanderlust elements by Wild Blueberry Ink
Let's Go elements by Ardent Sparrow
Washi End brushes by Karla Dudley
Date Stamps 2 by Scotty Girl Designs

2013 Project Life | Week 15: April 7 - April 13

This was kind of a different Project Life week for me. For one thing, I really didn't take many pictures this week. That's weird for me. Good thing I can pull posts off of Facebook and other social media! (I like including those little everyday snippets on my PL pages). But it was also different this week because my husband was gone for a 10 day business trip. His trip wasn't just around the states like his work trips usually are. This was to Brazil. When he left, my kids and I reminded him that we were living through him and we REALLY hoped he'd take pictures he could share with us. And guess what ... he did! I was glad to be able to use some of his beautiful pictures on this week's pages!

Now ... scrapping info! Scotty Girl Design and Wild Blueberry Ink are the featured designers at Pixels and Co. this week. Yesterday they came out with a collaboration kit called The Good Life. I used this new kit for this week's pages. FYI, it's on sale now if you're interested!

AARP - I Dare You!

AARP ...  I got an invitation card in the mail. Sad but true. And really ... this is it. I'm done being freaked out about being 50. Promise!

On a scrappy note ... I hadn't had a chance to play with Karla Dudley's Walter kit yet. LOVE the colors! So fun! And Jennifer Valencia's photo actions ... they're so quick and easy to use and tweak to look the way you want 'em to!

Credits:
(Everything from Pixels & Co.)
Walter by Karla Dudley
Take Note (flower) by Karla Dudley
Scrap it Simple Vol. 1 by Mye de Leon
High Key B/W Action by Jennifer Valencia Photography

A FIRST Robotics Tournament

My son participates in a robotics club at his high school. He enjoys it. It is really very cool what these kids can program a robot to do. (I "get" computers and cameras and stuff like that, but certainly not like that!) His team took part in a tournament at the UofM last month and my son went for the day on Saturday. I joined him in the morning and spent the day as well. It was really very fun. I'd heard bits and pieces of what the robots did, but seeing it in action was so very cool! It was a great day ... so of course I needed to scrap it!

Scrappy credits:
Cogsmo by Cosmo Cricket
Clear Essentials (staples & screws) by Karla Dudley

Creative Girl - Creating Crayon Art

I love Pinterest. So does my daughter. A long time ago I "Pinned" some melted crayon art and Lauren came across my Pin. She was intrigued. She wanted to make a canvas and she wanted to make it now. She was convinced spring break was the time because she didn't have homework or volleyball so "I want to make it TONIGHT!" (She made two canvases because the canvases were on sale two for the price of one at Michael's so what the heck she may as well make two!) It was a really fun project. She had a lot of fun making it - and I had a lot of fun photographing it!

On a scrappy note ... I'm going to sound like a broken record (looking at my last posts), but I created this page using Just Jaimee's April Storyteller kit again! It's just such a fun kit! (I used some other P&Co designer stuff too!)

Credits:
April Storyteller Kit by Just Jaimee
Doodle Borders by Just Jaimee
Waterly Doods Alpha by Creashens
Framed Sentiments 2 by Karla Dudley
Washi End Tape Brushes by Karla Dudley

This Girl's Got Spunk!

Crystal Livesay's got an awesome set of templates coming out on Friday at Pixels and Co. I got a chance to play with one of 'em for this page about my daughter. I love her expression in this photo. She's so darn sweet! I just had to scrap it. I also used Karla Dudley's new "Butterfly" kit. I love the yellows, greys and blues in the kit!

Credits:
Butterfly Collection (papers, elements buttons & sentiment stickers) by Karla Dudley
Effortless Templates by Crystal Livesay
Life 365 Buttons (recolored) by Karla Dudley
Anywhere papers by Karla Dudley

2 LOs! | Awesome! + Life Out Loud (Instagram love!) | Just Jaimee's April Storyteller kit

Just Jaimee @ Pixels & Co is releasing simply THE*MOST*FUN*DIGIKIT*EVER tomorrow. It's part of her monthly storyteller collections at Pixels and Co. This is April Storyteller. It's fab! So bright and cheerful and FUN!

Here are TWO (count 'em) TWO pages I created using the kit:

And ... so you can see the kit in all it's fabulousness, here's a kit preview that you can drool over!

Spring. Really?!

I'm really hoping it's going to be spring one of these days. It's not going to be tomorrow ... we're forecast to get snow yet again. Frustrating! Hopefully soon though! (I remind myself that even though it's going to snow, the snow is not going to last.) I snapped these photos of my son this past weekend when we were at my mom's house after/while we were getting a spring snowstorm. These photos make me laugh. My son makes me laugh! (Our dog sure looks happy too, don't you think?!)

Credits:
Made of Awesome by Gennifer Bursett
Simply Me (recolored ribbon) by Mye de Leon
Kraft Photo Tabs by Wild Blueberry Ink
Clear Essentials (staples) by Karla Dudley

Club CK Scrapbook Inspiration!

Fun! ... I wanted to share something ... a friend just pointed out that one of my layouts (and layouts from a couple digi friends) were highlighted on the Club CK (Creating Keepsakes) scrapbook inspiration blog. Too fun!

http://clubcreatingkeepsakes.com/blogs/ck_community/archive/2013/04/08/scrapbooking-inspiration-april-8-2013.aspx?CommentPosted=true#commentmessage

This was the page ... a fun get together with family!

(Created with all digi goodness from Pixels & Co.!)

School Closure Alert! ... A Snow Day

I felt like playing this afternoon. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with these pictures. I knew that I wanted to scrap the memory, but how to do it? I decided to go for a more funky/artsy page. It's totally out of my scrapping norm, but it was a fun change!

Credits:

Holiday Game Cards by Katie Pertiet
Holiday Overlays by Nancie Rowe Janitz
PDQ Vol. 10 Painted Collage Textured Overlay by Nancie Rowe Janitz
Vintage Findings Antique Prints papers by Jen Allyson
I Heart Doodles by LivE Designs

Easter with the family!

It's always fun to hang out with the family! I took these photos at my side of the family's Easter celebration this year. Good times!

I really enjoy using Simply Tiffany Studio's Windows System Collections! They're such great templates for multi-photo layouts! I love the look!

Credits:
Go Fly Away papers by Gennifer Bursett
Anywhere Buttons by Karla Dudley
Raw Sugar cards by Deena Rutter
Lets Go cards & elements by Scotty Girl Designs
Sweet Pea alpha by Karla Dudley
Griddy alphy by Creashens
Window System Collection 1 and 3 by Simply Tiffany Studios

2013 Project Life | Week 14: March 31 - April 6

A great week.
Easter ...
We got to spend time with family both weekends ...
Spring is still not here ... (but soon hopefully!)
Life is good!

Credits:
Dare to Dream by Karen Funk
Remarkable (family moments wordart) by Karla Dudley
Clear Essentials (staples) by Karla Dudley

Hello Spring!

It has been very elusive, but I think ... maybe ... spring has finally sprung shall we say! I snapped these photos as we walked to church for Easter last weekend. We've still got snow on the ground where I live, but it is melting and I'm hoping some day it'll be gone and we'll see some flowers popping up! ... Hopefully!

For this page I used Karla Dudley's beautiful Sweet Pea kit. I love the spring colors and the hand painted flowers are just gorgeous!!

I also used Karla's new Washi tape end brushes for the first time. WOW! They are so ... SOOOOO ... very cool. Just load 'em up and use them with the eraser tool and voila .. you've got the look of real torn tape edges! LOVE!!!  They are most definitely going into my stash of stuff to use over and over again!!

Credits:
Sweet Pea papers, buttons, washi tape and hand painted elements by Karla Dudley
Washi Tape end brushes by Karla Dudley
Alpha Bits by Karla Dudley
Euphoria paper pack by Creashens
Swoon (wood) alpha by Creashens
Easy Going Mini Template Set 2 by Simply Tiffany Studios

Whoo hoo! I got a Gallery Standout!

Whoo hoo! I wanted to share ... I'm excited. I just got an email that a page I posted a little bit ago got a Gallery Standout. It was my Maggie page. For my non-srappy readers, Gallery Standouts are pretty cool in the digi scrapping world!

Check it out here!

Oh ... this is the page ...

A Polish lunch at Kramarczuk's

Tiffany Tillman is coming out with another set (actually TWO sets) of her Window Systems Templates tomorrow. I got to play with one of them tonight when I created this page. I love these window sets! I really enjoy using them, especially when I've got several photos I want to scrap. They're great!

Credits:
Windows Systems Template Set 3 by Simply Tiffany Studios
Walter papers and journaling cards by Karla Dudley
Kraft Essentials paper by Karla Dudley
Take Note Cut Files by Karla Dudley
Going Places journaling cards by Ardent Sparrow and One Little Birds
Catalog Inspiration wood frame by Katie Pertiet

100% Cute!

I snapped this photo of our pup on my iPhone the other day. I added a quick Instagram filter/frame and I absolutely LOVE this photo. Maggie is just so darn cute! Of course I had to scrap it! It'd be crazy if I didn't, right?! LOL!

I used digi lovely-ness from Pixels and Company to create this page.

Credits:
Fly Away paper pack and woodgrain papers by Gennifer Bursett (part of the April Company Stash)
Let's Go elements and papers by Scott Girl Designs (also part of the April Company Stash)
100% Flairs No. 1 by Creashens (more April Company Stash)
Simple Stitches by Karen Funk
Hold on to Happy template by Crystal Livesay

I'm 50 ... really?!

Hmm ... a page about me. A page about me being FIFTY! Really - REALLY - weird.

Karla Dudley has got some great new alpha brushes coming out on Friday (she's got several really cool alpha brushes!). I love the grungy-ness of these numbers! I also used her awesome Life 365 kit (one of my new fave kits!) and Simply Tiffany Studio's layered looks template as a base for the page.

FYI, I really am o.k. with being 50. I guess I'm just adjusting to the new number! LOL!

Credits:
Addy Up Number Stamps by Karla Dudley
Life 365 Alphas and Papers by Karla Dudley
Everyday Life Definitions by Karla Dudley
Layered Looks Template 10 by Simply Tiffany Studios

2013 Project Life | Week 13: March 24 - March 30

Another week! ...

I don't know what happened this week. It was a great week but for some reason (I don't know why) I had a hard time figuring out what to do with these pages. It took me a couple more days to finally put my pages together but I got it done! The memories are down on paper (or will be when I print my book) so that's what matters!!

Credits:
Life 365 Papers and Buttons by Karla Dudley
Stay Tuned by One Little Bird
Camera Love Cards by Splendid Fiins
Anywhere Frames by Karla Dudley
Birthday Bash (tag) by Karen Funk

Together ... it's a great place to be (... and Pixel's and Co's April Stash!)

So ... it's April already. Where has the time gone? For you scrappy people ... the start of a new month means that there's a new Company Stash at Pixels and Company. Company Stash ... means coordinated kits by all of the designers at P&Co. I love that! For this page I used a number of this month's stash along with Tiffany Tillman's Wicked Crooked Templates. Again, love the colors!

Credits (all supplies available at Pixels & Co.):

From the April 2013 Company Stash
Fly Away Woodgrain Papers by Gennifer Bursett
Fly Away Paper Pack by Gennifer Bursett
Wanderlust Flairs by Wild Blueberry Ink
Lets Go element and paper pack by Ardent Sparrow

Wicked Crooked Templates by Simply Tiffany Studios