Baking up Both Pages and Cookies

My kids enjoying the Christmas Cookies I made

I'm still trying to get all caught up on my daughter's album. Although I have been working hard, I'm not sure I'll be caught up to this Fall in her books by the time we leave for vacation. Christmas has pushed it's way up to the front of my thoughts as well. I received a new camera as an early Christmas present and I have a lot to learn about it. I already like that it takes pictures with a flash, as my old camera was not doing too well taking indoor photos this entire year. With my Canon, I could tilt the camera and the photo would change from horizontal to verticle, making it best for reviewing your pictures. But my Panasonic doesn't. :( I'm not used to all the buttons yet, but I'll get there.

I am currently scrapbooking photos of the spring. I did 23 pages on Saturday! I repeat the phrase, "Simple pages, Completed albums" when I find myself dawdling or trying to create something too complicated, as I tend to do.

Tip of the Day: Don't be afraid to use your pictures as embellishments instead of stickers. For example: I took pictures of the eggs my kids dyed and punched the photos with a small square punch. I made a border of yellow paper and stuck the egg squares down the center of the strip. I have also used my daugher's art, her chosen pumpkin, flowers at a park or even animals we saw. It's hard to find the right sticker sometimes, but your pictures will be sure to match. You can always cut something out of paper. While it definately will take longer thatn slappin on a sticker, paper embellishments are unique and you can choose the exact color to match your photos or page design as well.

Scrap Happy!

The good, the bad, and scrapbooking

Our last day of the tripday 3 of being bitten

2nd to last day, unable to keep anything down

I have been scrapbooking an awful lot. I haven't been completing my 7 pages a day lately because I found that the only way to do that was to stay up very late at night and I was getting exhausted and grumpy. So, I have been doing what I can. I finished my daughter's Disney vacation from last year (taking up 1 1/2 albums) This vacation contained some of the hardest pages for me to scrapbook. It was that reason that I had trouble getting through it. We had a rough time on our vacation last year, having bed bugs for a week. My daughter was bitten the longest and had the worst effect from it, so it was difficult to scrapbook and journal about that. I know things could be worse, but while I'm mindful of that, it doesn't make it any easier!

Today marks a year since we first found the bite marks on her and began the week (and a day) of misery. It was fitting that I sat down with her tonight and read her the just completed scrapbook for the first time. I usually try to keep things positive in my kid's albums. This time, I did something that I haven't done before. I told the story of our vacation as I always do, including some of the bad, but not all, and then on the last page, I typed out the story from my point of view. I wrote honestly and included every detail I hadn't added previously. At the end of it, I really stressed to my daughter that in life, bad times do happen and that I hoped that she would remember that there were good memories made as well. As I finished reading it to her, she leaned back against me and smiled. Her eyes were a little wet, but she didn't say a word.

Scrap Happy!

Harvest Memories

We went to the Pumpkin Patch yesterday, and I took a lot of pictures. I have placed some of my favorites here. It's interesting that in most of these pictures, my kids aren't even looking at me! That is actually the way I wanted it to be. This way, they are comfortable, without noticing the hulking camera in their face. My darling daughter with the big gap in her smile. She lost her 2nd front tooth over the weekend.

My sweet boy, looking so tiny compared to those pumpkins!

As a boy, he loves anything with a motor and wheels!

Showing his sister a baby pumpkin. He hated having to put it back in the bin.

Trying to pick up pumpkins in the pumpkin patch. I always try to get candid shots here.

Looking for the perfect pumpkin.

It's so much fun to go to the pumpkin patch!

When I realized that I had but a few short months until the end of the year, I started uploading pictures to York to get printed, and scrapbooking the ones I had on hand. I had scrapbooked pages and pages months ago that still needed journalled as well. So, I went into scrapbooking mode with a vengence! It didn't last, even though I had decided to complete 5 pages a day. When I was a CM consultant, we always told people to start with their most recent pictures and work backwards. I followed that advice and finished my daughter's school pictures from 3rd grade. I felt like I was cheating, but it was nice to get something done! I laid out the pages for the beach vacation I just took in August, and those will be next. It was nice that my daughter was able to look at the pages I had just journalled and placed into a book. She spent a good deal of time reading and looking at the pictures. I'm sure it makes her feel good that I spent that time on her. So much more to do and so little time! Scrap happy!

Chapter 1, in which I get up on my soapbox & then catch myself...

My daughter's first day of school. She's holding up 3 fingers for 3rd grade. (her idea!) I was trying to frame her in the shot using the rose of sharon bush.

I have piles of photos on my desk right now. Seriously! I was so behind in ordering pictures, that I took hours uploading and ordered over 600 pictures for my daughter's scrapbook. I really haven't even been in the mood to scrapbook until my giant package of pics came. Then I started to think about it! I just don't feel like I have time to scrapbook right now. But I definately need that creative outlet. I painted with my daughter and couldn't believe how much I enjoyed just letting those creative juices flow!

I ordered an album in July from Creative Memories and used up an entire day of my life trying to order it. There was something wrong on their end and they were having problems getting larger books to work. After it was all said and done, I was able to get them to knock off $40, but it wasn't without a lot of phone calls all day trying to fix the problem. The album cost me almost $100 and they really messed the cover up. During several of my phone calls, I honestly told them that I was so frustrated with the company, problems I was having with ordering the book and the fact that no one would let me talk to a manager, that I was going to quit using Creative Memories. I was serious. Thankfully, one nice manager finally offered me the refund I was demanding, and made me feel a little better about Creative Memories. I have always been their biggest fan.

I had a great summer! I got to take pictures of the kids gardening, enjoying the children's museum, exploring various parks, and the zoo, losing a tooth and playing at the beach.

It's hard to believe that fall is coming next week! I already took the first day of school pictures, even though I homeschool, so my daughter doesn't really even need to go outside to "go" to school! We took pictures out there anyway. I also took her to JcPenny the day after she lost her front tooth to get her school pictures taken. I don't know why more parents don't do that for their kids school pictures. When you get the photos from the school, you have to buy their package and you can't choose a picture! At JcPenny, I use a coupon and get to choose the pictures I want and what sizes. I have always wanted to go there for sports pictures, too. I never have. But the lady who takes the sports photos around here is not the best, and I didn't even order her pictures the last time. I took them myself! I actually prefer my photos to the ones JcPenny's photographers take lately! I take tons of pictures of the kids and I know what to say to get my 8 year old to smile a non-cheesy grin! I took her to JcPenny this time because I wanted her to feel important and I wanted a school plain backdrop.

Is it just me, or have people lost their desire to do their best? I'm not just talking about taking photographs, I'm talking about all kinds of projects we have had done and aren't happy with the results. I sometimes think, "Is it just me? Am I being overly critical?" You know you can get in those moods sometimes. But there are times when I have paid to have something done and I'm very satisfied with it...uh oh! I have completely gone off topic! I'm sorry! I just try and do my best when I have a job to do and I expect everyone around me to do the same. Especially if I'm paying you!

Better get back to cleaning up and potty training and laundry. :)

If you get the chance, scrap for me will you?

Scrap Happy!

Summer

During this summer, my computer aquired a Trojan and I didn't have access to a computer for over a week. I kind of liked it! I spend too much time on the computer, so I slacked off for awhile once it was back up and running. I have had fun with the kids this summer, and have taken a lot of pics. Here are some cool ones from August. I like to get action shots, unposed. Here is my daughter riding on a see saw with her brother on a trip to the children's museum.

On a bench waiting for the moms to catch up on a hike,

The excitement of "mining" for gems at the Laurel Caverns,

Sometimes the only time I can get her to pose for a picture is when she is strapped in with her seatbelt:)

My favorite pic of the summer, my little farmer boy in our garden at my Aunt's.

Fall will be here soon, and I'll be buried in photos by that point that need scrapped. But that's ok. Right now, I'm capturing memories. I'm trying to write a journal some nights so that I can piece it all together when I get the chance. Just like the corn in the garden, my kids will not stop growing. Right now, there are more important things to do than scrapbook.

Scrap happy!

Happy B Day!

This is my son, heady with a sugar rush that can only come from eating a chocolate cupcake all by yourself on your birthday!
I have ordered his first online album. I squeezed 100 pages into it and when it would hold no more, I had to fine tune it and have it ordered. Cost...gulp over $150 dollars. Still, when you think about it that way, that is just over a dollar a page and when you add up the cost of printing photos, buying cute embellishments and paper, pages and the album, it comes out to a lot more than $1 a page. Cm's pages alone are over $1 and that is before adding the fun stuff, not to mention a protector. I think the fact that you pay for scrapbook pages a little here and a little there, makes it easier than when you plop down the whole lump sum at once.

I am caught up on his professional album as well, but I forgot to have it out at his party. Man! I worked so hard on that book just so it would be done in time for his party. I like having both books. I was able to do a couple of pages on his haircut in the scrapbook album and include things like his absolutely adorable curls, and his little certificate, stickers that they used to amuse him and even the receipt. Yes, in this case, I saved the receipt. In my defense, it says, "First haircut" on it and has the price...OK, I debated on whether or not to save it and I chose to. I couldn't toss it!

On to another topic: My camera. Well, my camera sustained at least one blunt force trauma on our latest vacation. It isn't doing well. The dents and scratches on the outside are fine. But it's the fact that the flash is askew that disturbs me to no end. Especially in the winter when I have no choice but to take pictures indoors. I need a good flash. This puts more than a little sport into my picture taking! I now am challenged to take pictures that are decent, with the crippled camera that I have. I love a good challenge! Have you ever tried to take a picture of a one year old boy, indoors, in the winter, without a flash. This should be an Olympic sport! Not only do you have to hold extra still as you click , but your subject needs to be holding extremely still as well. I was disappointed not to find a camera under the tree, because I was a pretty good girl this year, and I had really hinted and hinted to my husband that I wanted one. :( But for now, I have to make do with my little canon. Like I said before, I love a good challenge!

Ideas for Birthday pictures:

A picture of the party site all decorated

close up of signs or decorations,
themed plates,
favors,
food set out

the cake

the birthday boy or girl blowing out the candles
( This is tricky! But you can get this shot! Be very aware of the birthday song, and click the second it ends.)

the cake and the birthday person

pictures of everyone who attends
I like to have the person who is giving the present come up and stand or sit beside my child as they open the gift. This serves several purposes. 1. The person is guaranteed a good view! 2. The child knows who the gift is from 3. The child is able to thank them immediately and comment on the gift. (if they can speak!) 4. I can get a picture of them with the birthday girl or boy.
pictures of games being played

make sure to get a picture of the person behind the camera
(we get a family shot usually taken by the last guest departing)

make sure to get a photo of the birthday honoree by themselves!

photos of the gifts before and after opening

Everyone singing happy birthday

The kids faces as the cake is carried out

Scrap Happy!

Live, Love and Leave a Legacy

A friend of mine went to heaven this week. She was a mother, and not much older than I am. I find myself staring and thinking. It's hard to grasp the loss of her, since she was such a presence. I can still hear her laugh! She has left a giant Krissy sized hole, especially to her kids, who are in their young teens. Kris was an awesome scrapbooker. I enjoyed looking through her albums, as she had a gift. She was also very up to date on her kid's albums, even though she started scrapbooking I want to say less than 6 years ago. She has left countless memories in those books for her children, and they have already realized what a treasure that is. I have to say that this has been another life lesson on sharing your love, because you just never know how long you have left on earth to tell people how much they mean to you. I don't know how long I will have with my kids to leave an impression on them how important they are to God. I care that they have scrapbooks to enjoy now, and cherish later. I want to do my best at continuing that for them, so that they will have something that they can hold after I'm gone. It's something that will remind them how important they are to me.

I realize that this may be a bit of a downer, and I'm sorry. But while I'm sad, I'm also inspired and I hope that you will be inspired to create lasting memories for your kids, as well as capturing those memories in photos and laying them out like a story of your life that needs to be told.

Try to Scrap Happy!

Fly little one, Fly!

My kids
I just like this picture. It was taken without a flash.

Learning to ride

This is our shadows. Mine and my girl's.

So happy with herself as she rides without assistance!

Some very exciting things have been happening in my life! And no, I'm not talking about the Pens winning the Stanley Cup, although that was exciting, too! My little girl learned to ride a bike this very week! It was thrilling to watch her! I started out holding her, slowly switched to hover mode, and soon was running along after her, and now, I just stand on the street and watch for traffic so that I can verbally warn her to get off the street. This was a life lesson. While I wanted her to ride on her own, I was very nervous when she did. When she told me she wanted me to stop holding her, I knew she could do it, and I felt a thrill knowing that she was going to make it! It was very, very exciting.

The other excitement was my little boy trying food for the first time. I first gave him various fruits to gum as I held them. He has really seemed to like this, as well as the cereal he eats right up. I enjoy introducing him to the world. I like watching the fire crackers reflect in his eyes, and hearing him laugh his deep boy-giggle as I tickle his ribs. I love how he tries to catch the bubbles I blow for him, watching them with a serious look on his face. I have to be alert or he'll get his chubby hands into everything I get too close to him. I know that if he swings his pudgy fingers through the hot water as I'm watching dishes, he'll be burnt. But he doesn't know this. The hard part is letting him learn life's painful lessons. I want to protect my kids from everything, even though I know it isn't possible.

I have fallen dreadfully behind on my daughter's album. The other night, I stayed up and laid out all of her pictures onto pages so that I can start working on her album again. Today, I saw that more photos had come in the mail. ( I used York this time (free shipping deal) and wasn't impressed. I will be going back to Snapfish.) So, I said that seeing the pictures in my mailbox made me want to scrapbook all day instead of cleaning the house as I had planned. My daughter said that she knew what I would be doing while she was at her Gramma's! But I told her, " Just because that's what I WANT to do, doesn't mean I'll be doing it." I didn't get to scrapbook, but my house is cleaner :)

I want to take and post pictures of my work in progress as I design and complete album pages. I will start soon!

Scrap Happy!

Time passes by

I'm sitting here with a mug of ice cream, sniffling from a cold. I'm thinking of scrapbooking. Wishing that I had started earlier on my daughter's album. Knowing that there is no way I could catch up so that I could show her album off tomorrow at her birthday party. I only wish I had thought of that several weeks ago. I just went in to Snapfish and ordered 131 photos from March, April and May. These are for my daughter's album, as her brother has the online album. Lately I notice that there are less and less pictures of me. I just hate myself in glasses and these stupid bangs I despised even as I had them cut. I hide behind the baby whenever possible. (I'm sure you are thinking that the ice cream I'm eating isn't helping things. But I am losing the baby weight, and I walked today...so I can eat a mug of ice cream if I want!)

My little girl is turning 7. I don't feel like I missed it all. I have watched her grow up little by little, every day but maybe 15 out of her entire life. I try to store up the moments, little sayings she uses, things she does over and over again for a time. The pictures are where it hits me the hardest. Once she is asleep and I look through the pictures, I see so much feeling and I think she is so perfect. It's hard to remember that she and I fought over cleaning and clipping toenails this very evening! Then I look back at a picture from 3 months ago and I think, "Wow, she was just a baby!" When did she get a little older in just 3 short months?

I hold my baby boy and beam with pride as everyone has to comment on his hair, his adorable expressions, his sweet baby love. Mommas and Daddies that know, they have been there, tell me that if I blink he will be graduating college like their son is, it will seem just like yesterday that he was that tiny and now he's a father. These are the things I hear every time I leave the house. I know this. I know it because I have an older child. I realize how short the months are that I will be able to hold him. I watch mothers of teenage sons, and think that I'll suffocate if he won't let me hug him when he gets to the "cool" age. I already hear him behind me and half expect to see him running through the kitchen when I turn around to look. I still am guilty of hoping he'll nap so that I can do laundry, clean, teach or scrapbook. There are times where I think how nice it will be when he and my daughter can actually play together. But when I find a little touch of heaven in the smell of his silky, curly hair, I don't want anything to change. I am so blessed in my family, my home, my friends, my car. I thank God for His many blessings in my life. I'm glad that I have pictures and notes from the great days, to cheer me up on the down days. I never want to forget this time.

Basketful of Clean Baby

Babies smell so good! I don't know if it's the special baby shampoo, the fact that they eat nothing but milk, or that they are so pure and sweet, but they smell delicious! When I hold my little man, his soft hair is just at the right level for my nose to smell, and for my lips to kiss him on the top of his bobbing little head.

I enjoyed my daughter as a baby. I still do. She's six, but since she has been sick, I am transfixed by her tiny little woman hands. When did they lose their chubbiness? When did her fingers get so long and slender? Since the baby, I find myself amazed by the fact that her legs seem to stretch on and on and her head is gigantic now, compared to my new baby boy. When did this happen? Until he was born 2 months ago, she was my baby! Now, she suddenly seems so grown up! You can see this in pictures where she is proudly holding her brother. I see it in daily life. She no longer calls me when she is going to get sick, she merely reaches for her basin. She answers the phone, doesn't expect me to check on her after I've put her to bed, and only needs help washing her long hair in the shower. I can casually suggest things to wear, but the days of my choosing her outfits are long over, even for family pictures.

I was so excited to get the pictures I ordered in the mail yesterday. Now I have pictures to scrap for my daughter's album. Exciting pictures of her becoming a big sister, and our giant pine trees being chopped down, our super bowl party and Valentine's day. I look forward to making fun pages for her to look at again and again. I love scrapbooking, duh! So I look forward to that aspect of it as well. But all of this is for her to remember how important she is to her daddy and I. I guess a big part of it is also for me to remember her as she was when she was still my baby, my little girl and soon to be a little lady.

Scrap Happy!

Representing!

I was contacted by my daughter's instructional supervisor telling me that my daughter was chosen to represent cyber schools in a yearly campaign of some kind. This campaign chooses students that have chosen an nontraditional method of schooling, be it private school, homeschooling or cyber school, and tells their story. So, I felt it was a huge honor for her to be chosen.

They typically send out a photographer to take pictures of the child in their school environment. This year, time was of the essence, so they told me the dates and times which happened to be the week we were already living through! None of the times worked for me, and there was some confusion with them asking us to drive out to Midland , PA (much too far away!). The person putting all of this together asked me if I knew a photographer in the area, and if not, the plan was to send someone from Midland out. The only issue still seemed to be time, as there was just a week left until the deadline. I sent her a few of my recent pictures and offered to take the photos if that would be easiest. So, she agreed, and these are a few of the dozen photos I sent in.

At first, my daughter was disappointed that a photographer wasn't going to be coming out. But I let her choose her own outfit, and I think she had as much fun posing for the pictures as I did taking them. We didn't have any arguments, and the lighting in our new addition was great!

I don't know if you'll see any of these pictures in a newspaper or postcard or anywhere else, but I'm pleased to say that I took them. My daughter is a beautiful girl and one of my 2 favorite people to photograph. She makes my job easy!

Scrap Happy!

Our Birth Story

I loved being pregnant for the last 9 months! I was in no hurry to go into labor, especially with the addition being built. Our house has been dusty, noisy and dusty..oh, did I already say that? Well, it was. I was told that the addition would be done by Thursday, and that is the morning I ended up getting contractions! Knowing the guys would be at my house soon to start work for the day, I jumped in the shower and managed to stall the contractions.

After they left that night, I cleaned for 2 hours, and then took a nap. when I woke up, contractions started, and I had them all night. I didn't trouble my husband about it, I didn't even get up, instead I counted the length of my contractions in my head (in Spanish) and would sleep in between them. I have no idea how close together they were, but I wasn't worried. That Am, when I got up to get some cereal, they petered away again.

I started to clean, this time starting on the kitchen. I have to tell you that while you may be thinking I was "nesting", I'm not sure that was all it was. You see, my kitchen was coated in dust from the work on the addition, and I just wanted to get it clean now that the work was all done! It really needed cleaned and I felt the baby would come at any time.

I ended up calling my doctor, because... (and I hope this isn't TMI)#1. I had been bleeding these last 2 days, but mostly #2. because my friend and husband had begged me to call. I was surprised when they wanted me to come right in. Well, I didn't rush right in, and didn't even call my husband until the last second, telling him to not be concerned and I'd call when I got home. As I was leaving, the office called and told me that they were now taking their lunch, could I come in from 1-1:30? I tried to call my husband, but got a message saying he was out of the office for 2 weeks! Great! Now I figure he is at the doctor's in the parking lot, waiting for me and I had no way to reach him. (He was.) I left and went around the block to drop off some library books, and as I passed my street, I saw his truck park in front of my house! I did a 3 point turn in the middle of the main street and zipped up before he had made it in the house. He wanted to get the overnight bag and take it with us, so..OK, I'd wait in the truck. He can't get in the house. Yep, apparently the deadbolt won't open! Ok, so we head to the doctors without the bag.

At the office, they tell me I am in early stages of labor and to go home and wait for my contractions....you know the drill. They decide to put me on a stress test to check on baby. It's nice to hear the heartbeat and OH! Contractions start again. Right away they are 6-7 minutes apart. (I forgot to mention that I am at 4 cm and 75% effaced.) Well, apparently the baby doesn't like the contractions, it's little heart rate slows to 90 with one and then drops to 80 with the next and the nurse and midwife come rushing in and tickle the baby's head and tell me I should go straight to the hospital.

So, we go home to get my bag and I am having regular contractions. My husband breaks down the door to get my bag, we collect my daughter and MIL, and head to the hospital in after school traffic. I am breathing great through my contractions, with no formal training!!! We get to the hospital between 3:30 and 4, and I walk up to the triage. We go in to fill out paperwork and then they stick us in a room and won't let my daughter in. They say she can come see me once I am settled in my Labor and Delivery room. I have found that I want to sit up during contractions, and breath through them. I tell my husband to hold my hands and to remind me to breathe, and remind me to relax. He was a very effective coach, and reminded me, even when I got snippy with him for doing so!

The baby was still not reacting to the contractions well, and they wanted me to stop sitting up since they couldn't hear the heartbeat when I sat and shifted the monitors. But that was the way I was coping, so I ignored them, instead focusing on the heartbeat of the baby and asking after each one if it was OK. They rushed me to L&D, and the doctor came in fast. They wouldn't let me see my daughter, and that about broke my heart. I cried then. Meanwhile, she was wanting to see me as well. I hadn't even gotten to kiss her and tell her I'd see her later! It was just all happening so fast.

I love how the new nurses would come in as I am having a contraction and introduce themselves to me! I had to ignore them as they would ask me questions and everything! Honestly! I was kinda busy girls! The doctor asked me how bad the contractions were, and I felt I could manage. I have had migraines and pretty horrible cramps in my life, so I felt like I'd had worse pain. They did ask me about every 5 minutes if I wanted an epidural, and that was annoying! Even my dear husband was getting worried that it would be too late for me to get one. They checked me and I was 6 cm dilated and they broke my water which had been bulging since the doctor's office.

OK, now the pain is bad, and to top it off, they will not let me sit up! They will let me get on my hands and knees, but that just won't work for me. I am feeling pressure. I finally agree to an epidural and they have to give me an IV as well, and the epidural takes 3 tries to get it right. This is all while I am having contractions pretty much constantly at this point. As soon as they finish the epidural, the doctor checks me and says it's time to push since I am at 10 cm! Ok, they said the epidural would start working in 10-12 minutes! I pushed the baby out in about that! Oh, and I screamed and was a little grumpy and said, "I can't do it!' more than once. It was painful! But I will always have this mental picture of my son being born. Holding him, I immediately saw perfection. I felt an immediate connection. I felt complete again.

With him, I don't feel any pressure to impress anyone. I don't feel any competition. I don't feel any hurry. He is my baby. I can spend hours sitting on the couch holding him; looking at him. I have a second chance to be a mom, to experience everything new through his eyes. I have my girl, and now I have my boy. This is my life.

He's 3 weeks old now, and I can't always get him to stop crying like I used to. I see him changing right before my eyes. His face is fuller and his feet come down into the footsie area of those tiny sleepers now. When his fists grip my hair, it hurts! It is both a relief and a burden that the place he is most comfortable is in my arms. I am mesmerized by his tiny feet, taking picture upon picture of them in my goal of capturing the smallness. I have pages and pages done in his online album I'm making for him. I'm going to fit as many pages in it as CM will allow me to.

Scrap Happy!

Christmas Layouts

I really had fun scrapbooking Christmas this year, because I felt I had a lot of embellishments to choose from. In the past, Creative memories had a few packs of stickers, and that was really it. But over the last few years, since "power pallets" appeared, you can choose from all different styles to fit your personality and pages. I personally favor the kid's choices, and for obvious reasons! The page above was done on the old 12 x 12 pages, which means that all the new power pallet pages don't fit unless they are cut. I have to say that one thing I love about the TRUE 12x12 paper is that you can use it in any direction, unlike the old pages. For instance, the holly border I used on the side could also have been used on the top or bottom of the page. Instead of cutting a strip off the side o fit my old pages, I simply cut it along side the holly border. This also helped me to be able to cover up some of the distracting backround in my pictures. The stickers that come with the power pallet work great, since they match the colors and style. All pallets also have title stickers, which are clear. See the title sticker on this page? It is in the bottom left hand corner. I am a HUGE fan of title stickers!

The page above shows how I have used some of my older stickers, piling them in a Christmasy clump in the corner of the page. The vellum title says twinkle, and matches the picture alongside it, not shown here, since I am zooming in on the details!

I gave up trying to turn the above picture, as you can get the gist of it just fine. In this instance, I am using the gold flecked pages, so I didn't want to cover up the whole page with a sheet of paper. I am using the jewel power pallet pack. I used one page, tore it in half with the tearing tool, and put one half on this page and the other half on the facing page. (not shown) it's hard to see the details, but I put a title sticker on some holly paper, matted it in green, used a heart punch (both sizes made matting the hearts easy)and wrote love on it, sticking it over the little title's corner. The green strip across the page does not go all the way through. It is cut underneath the photos where no one will see it.

I can't just use all the new goodies, I also have to use some of my older page embellishments when they will look good with my pictures. These Christmas stickers and journal boxes are from older power pallets, but I like how easy it is to mat my photos with the matching paper so that they all co ordinate!

I had to do a great page to show off this adorable picture! 8x10 photos can be kind of a challenge to scrapbook with, especially if you want to keep the corners free in case you need to tke out the picture later to frame or whatever. I used large corners to keep my photo on the page, which is paper from the power pallet. It already had the trees on it, I simply added some snowflakes from the matching sticker pack. I also bought the new Holiday vellum titles, and although I only used a couple this year, I did use one on this page. The titles are not always the right size for me, so I cut this one into seperate words and was able to use frosted splits to adhere them to the page the way I wanted to.

I hope you enjoyed looking at some of my 15 pages I did this Christmas! I enjoyed talking about them. Life here is good. I'm slowly healing, My daughter still enjoys her new title as big sis, and we have all been very blessed with the delicious meals sent by friends. My little guy continues to charm us with his ability to smile in his sleep when we coo or laugh. Our house with the added addition seems like a huge palace right now, and we don't mind being snowed in when there is no good reason to take a newborn out anyway!

Scrap Happy!

It's a boy!

I had every intention of telling my birth story here today, of calling everyone as soon as the baby was born, and of starting a scrapbook at once. But instead, I am feeding, changing poopy diaper after poopy diaper, welcoming well wishers daily, and trying to eat while the baby sleeps. I love that I can comfort him unlike any one else. I love holding him in my arms. I love the rare treat when he smiles or has his bright eyes open. I love all of it! He is perfect. I'm just enjoying him and this family time without school and work. It is awesome.
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Boy or Girl?

I very much enjoy taking pictures of my blossoming belly. It is so amazing to me when I feel this life inside of me moving, and even more so now that I can identify a heel now and then as opposed to some random body part! I don't know why, but I often forget to pay attention to the world behind me when I am taking pictures of myself. When I am photographing others, I am facing them, and looking at what will be my picture, so I'm much more aware of what is in the background. But when i am taking a self portrait, I don't notice the background until I look at the picture I just took. I'm really not into doctoring up my pictures, except by physically cropping or using a red eye on an actual print, but I played around with this one on my computer a bit. I also took pictures of my belly really close up, which shows that it is an exact circle! Very funny! But I wasn't happy with any of those, since they were so close, I didn't use a flash, and they are a bit fuzzy.

Anyhow, I am delighted to say that I have completed all but 3 pages of Christmas 2008. (it will be 15 pages in all) I have only to do 3 pages of professional photos, which I am scheduled to pick up this week. I am happy to have gotten Christmas done. It was so much fun to scrapbook! I've missed it, even in this short period of time since being caught up. I didn't really do anything too inventive or fancy. I mostly used the Christmas power pallets for this year, and on gold flecked pages, which sadly CM doesn't make any more.

Happy New Year! Scrap Happy!

Merry Christmas!

I'm not sure why this picture shows up so dark on the computer. Reviewing it on the camera, you can see the stockings and details. It's the perfect picture. But not here. So sorry!



Christmas preparations have taken over and although I see photos everywhere as my little girl experiences the excitement that Christmas being just around the corner brings, I am trying to hold myself back from photographing it all and just enjoy being with her.



I just completed all of my holiday preparations today, wrapping the last gift. Other than the constant housework that needs done, I find myself at a loss to know what to do for fun! I am so used to scrapbooking always being an option, but now everything is neatly packed away, waiting as I am for our addition to be done so that I will always have a desk of my own to scrap on!



My constantly moving belly lets me know that I need to clear my memory card (Which I will do after saving my favorite photos on a disk.) Since I have most of the photos in albums already, now is the time I do this.



Tip of the Day: I'm always learning, and one thing I recently discovered was a new way to journal in my daughter's album. Some ways I journal are by writing things on my kitchen calendar, or writing a diary-like entry in a notebook after an event. A new technique that recently worked for me was to ask my daughter questions which I jotted on a post it note and kept with my photos until it was time to scrap the pictures it went with. We had been to the circus, and I just asked her things like her favorite part of the show, the funniest thing there, what she would want to be if she were in the circus, and things like that. I quickly jotted down her answers and found them tremendously helpful when it came to journaling the page. Usually, I journal pretty much from my point of view, so this was a completely different perspective, and I loved it.



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Pages, Pages

I know that I've shown you one of the pictures on this page before, telling you that we need to celebrate the little things. This simple little page is doing just that. I rarely use non Creative memories items on my pages, but they don't make ribbon, so I purposely bought scrapbooking ribbon just to match this page. I had a vision of what I wanted, and although it's a little bulky for me, it is just what I had in mind, so I'm very happy with it.

I am caught up on my daughter's albums! Yes, I am waiting on soccer page elements for a 2 page spread from this fall. (I ordered them over a month ago! Now I know what I put my customers through, making them wait when I was a consultant!) But other than that, and some pictures I have yet to order, (14, this includes my November pictures for my famous "rundown of the month" pages and a 2 page spread of Thanksgiving) I am officially caught up and up to date!

I don't know yet what I'm feeling, since this is a developement that has happened in the last 15 minutes, but I am hoping to spend some time with my daughter, get my Christmas baking done, and get my Christmas cards sent out. There will always be something that needs done, but with her albums like this, wow! I haven't been caught up for such a long time! I just want to enjoy these last few weeks of my pregnancy and celebrate Christmas! I did it!

Scrap Happy!

It's beginning to look a lot like Disney!

It's almost December! It sure is cold enough to be, isn't it?! I have been scrapping away and have almost finished my Disneyland trip from this August. I only need to journal it. I feel like I have been neglecting my family for the sake of catching up, but it's actually good for me to sit still and not rush around doing too much since I only have a month of pregnancy left. (I'm perfectly able to rush around, but when else will I have the excuse to sit still?) Now, if I could only figure out a way to scrapbook as I nurse, I'd never get behind! ...hmmm...



Some of the pages that I did, I absolutely love! I'm used to doing Disney albums that coincide with the Christmas season, so I've been somewhat confused as I was scrapbooking this trip, listening to Christmas music, but not using any Christmas things on the pages. I'm serious! It's been different! Creative Memories came out with all new Disney sets, and that has been fun to use, because everything is new. I can't wait to finish journaling so that I can show this book off!

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The post below has a picture of one of my favorite pages from this Disney trip. Take a look at it!

Busy Bee

Don't mind me, I'm just scrapping! I have been neglecting other household chores in order to spend as much time scrapbooking as possible. This week, I finished journaling my 18th book for my daughter, and am now a full day into our Disneyland trip. Most of these pages feel very uninspired. It could be that I am just trying to get it done, but I don't want to do boring pages just for the sake of getting caught up! This is Disney after all, and who knows if we will ever get back there. I may just be feeling hampered by the new stickers and papers that Creative Memories has come out with. I find myself trying to work around the new product rather than the pictures, and that's no good. I have laid out all the pictures on page layouts for after the Disneyland trip. I am feeling that this really can be done in time. I have a month and a week until my due date and multiple picture taking opportunities between now and then, one of those being Christmas! ( that's a big one!) But I can do it!

Scrap happy!

Quilts and Scrapbooks

This week, I am adding an extra blog, because I'm getting this out so late and I'm sorry! Here's why it's late: The baby's afghan and my daughter's quilt. (Both are firsts for me.)

As the warm weather draws to a close, so does my pregnancy! I have had several projects that I've been trying to complete before the baby comes and I am pleased and a bit relieved to tell you that I have completed the quilt I wanted to make for my daughter! I have also made the baby's knitted afghan big enough that it could snuggle up in it if it was born right now. But I am still planning on making it bigger and I'm working on that. It is also included in the first picture. I'm a long way from done on my daughter's albums, but I keep on plugging away and some days I feel so inspired! I can take hours on one page, and sometimes that's OK. I know that if I take hours on each page, I will never finish, but there are times when I can't help it. If I have an idea, I don't think that I would be satisfied with any less!

Scrap Happy!