Fun with Paper!

Sometimes I just can't find a sticker to go with my pictures! In these photos, you will see shots of pages and page elements I did for the album I made for the 10th grader. (now 11th!) When I can't find the perfect sticker, I enjoy making my own paper decorations!
This paper clown was made using a circle from the cutting system for the head, the flower from the mini punch for his puffy hair, and the star from the mini punch decorates his hat. The hat is a simple triangle shape with another flower punch on top. I free hand cut the collar around his neck.
I added sticker bows to these little bunnies to dress them up a little!
FLIP FLOPS!!!
Another great thing about making your own paper embellishments is that you can custom design them to match your page! Using scissors, punches/makers, and the cutting system, there's no end to what you can dream up!

Blossom

I created this page with the new blossom pack. It's paper fits perfectly on a 12x12 CM page, but I cut it to fit just half of this one. I made a tag with the matching stickers, which are thicker than your average sticker. I matted the sticker with a piece of paper and cut it out with zig zag scissors. Then I punched a hole in the top and threaded thin strips of paper through the hole. I used it as a title by using letter stickers. The tag was really the only page element, and I love how it turned out!

These pictures came about because my mom always used to take our picture in front of her Azalea bushes in the spring. She took my daughter's picture there last year and wanted to stick with the tradition. So this is a sentimental page!

Evening Bubbles

You know those times when you wish you had a camera? Well, I had a moment like that last evening. In the lighting, and just the perfect way my daughter was standing right in front of me when she reached out to pop the bubbles I was blowing, I saw her perfect reflection in the bubble! It would have made the perfect picture! Quickly, I ran into the house to get my camera before the light changed, asking my husband to refill the bubble wand as I raced by. But alas, I never was able to catch that picture. :( It floats in my head instead, taunting me! However, as we played with the bubbles, taking turns watching as one of us ran with the bubble wand while bubbles billowed out behind us, I was able to catch this picture, which I like a lot. I love the way the light is shining, and that my daughter is running toward it. It's some small consolation for not getting the picture I wanted.

I have completed several pages, although I feel stuck right now on a 2 page spread of all the various things we did in May. I just can't tie these 2 pages together, and I so desperately want to. So, I put them aside, because obviously the DVD I was watching was too interesting to pay attention to my scrapbooking!

Scrap Happy!

School in my Pajamas

"Can I wear my pajama's to do school?" My daughter asked me on her official first day of school. Considering that I had spent at least 20 minutes in my bed the night before mentally going through her clothes for the perfect outfit, it was bittersweet to give up my dream and tell her yes. Watching her walk down the steps in her pajamas, carrying her new princess backpack directly in front of her, didn't bring up the smallest teardrop! I knew that she wasn't going away for school, but rather just to the front porch for that traditional "first day of school" picture!

Even though it is only kindergarten, it's time consuming! So, I gave up my picture perfect living room in favor of a table that I can leave my pictures and scrapping supplies out on full time, until I can catch up on her albums. I do feel like I'm making more headway now in her albums, and I'm not stuck away in my basement by myself. Sometimes, you have to do what you have to do!

Hershey Park

When you travel to the land of Chocolate, (as we did right before we went to New York) you discover that even the air is different. It's tinged with a delicious smell....CHOCOLATE! The light fixures on some of the main streets are Hersheys Kisses, both wrapped and unwrapped! Even the roads appear to be chocolate brown, and I'm not sure if that was just my imagination or not! At first, everything seems to be one big commercial for Hershey's, but the longer you stay, the more normal that seems!
We were there in August, and you would expect the chocolate to be melting at that time of the year in Pennsylvania! Instead, it was chilly and rainy. We toured Chocolate World, and rode the "How chocolate is made" ride over and over again because my daughter loved it. It's free and they even give you free chocolate at the end of the ride! In the land where nothing is free, it was a nice change! Because of the rain, our plans had to change slightly because we couldn't spend time at the water park and even the amusement park would have been miserable in the cold rain. But we ended up finding some other surprises! We found a Diner (The Soda Jerk) that was awesome! It was right next door to a candy store, where we went crazy and spent $10 on all kinds of candy! We also went to the Harrisburg mall where we spent a good hour in the Old Pro Bass Shop. Ok, neither my husband nor I fish or hunt, but the store was really cool! My daughter really loved it. They had tons of "stuffed" animals acting out various scenes. ( My daughter and I always looked for the bullet wound.) They had a huge "mountain in the middle of the store that you could climb (with the proper shoes!), and a huge tank of fish. My daughter loved climbing onto the various boats, and we played putt putt with the test clubs! I only wish I had taken some pictures there! One night, we gave in and went to Hershey Park in the pouring rain. We did get a lot accomlished, in spite of the rain, which reminded me of bullets as I rode a coaster in the rain. Ouch! The next day, our last day in Hershey, the rain stopped at last, and we were able to tour the amusement park along with the hordes of others who had been waiting for the same thing! Overall, it was a good trip! You just can't beat the smell of chocolate in the air!

Scrap Happy!

Tip of the Day: If you are going on a trip and can think of specific pictures that you want to take, make sure you write the ideas down, take that list with you, and put it in a place that you will find it when you are there, maybe in with your toiletries!