Lil Fish and Our Family layouts

A couple ladies couldn’t make it to our last club meeting and received the layout kits.  Here are photos of the finished spreads which you can copy or be creative and do your own thing.  Enjoy!  : )

CM Spring Display

One of my most favorite all-time crafty purchases is this display I bought from Creative Memories.  It’s large enough to generously display any single page layout as well as magnets that could take the fillings out of your teeth.  Nothing’s falling off this board!  And if you don’t want to take the magnet route, hang your treasures with the cute little clothes pins.  I just love it!
The #1 benefit, though, is that it allows my pages to get a little more face time.  No matter the season, I go to my albums and pull out a favorite to display for the season.  This one happens to be from 3 years ago, but now the family gets to enjoy it again for a couple months.  I had almost forgotten about that sweet photo of Savannah with a caterpillar on her finger wearing a tutu.  The fake grass is a bit much I think, but it does grab one’s attention, eh?

Happy Spring, ya’ll!!

: )

Bouncing Baby Layout

ooOOOOooo!  This is exciting!  My official first ever challenge entry.  Whoo!  I’ve been browsing the scrapbook challenges (which seem to be few and far between compared to card challenges), and I decided I liked the options over at The Paper Variety.

The tic-tac-toe board really appealed to me because it’s almost like a create-your-own challenge.  We’re going with the diagonal

LAYOUT- SPRING COLORS-STAMPED SENTIMENT

I’m not sure the title of my page counts as a sentiment, but this is my first attempt.  Rookies get more wiggle room, right?  (Let’s hope.)  So here’s my layout…

Cuteness!!  What is it about a laughing baby that’s so contagious?  At 10 months old, Madeline could only sit on the trampoline while her sisters bounced around her.  These pics are tame compared to the jostling she took a couple times.  Almost three years later, she’s bouncing circles around her sisters!  They grow so fast…

The products are all from Heidi Grace Designs.

Love Bug

I used to be one of those scrappers that HAD to create in chronological order.  With only one child, that was easier to do.  Now with three, I go with what is inspiring me at the moment.  That also means that yes, Madeline is three, and I’m still working on her baby album.  And that’s okay!  No mommy guilt, here.  
Had I done this layout three years ago, I wouldn’t have considered felt hearts or crimped strips.  (Okay, the crimped strips are pretty 2007)  BUT!  I didn’t have my Cricut back then for the funky lettering, and that’s brand new heart-themed paper from Close to My Heart.  So there ya go.  Lexi may have a bursting baby album, but Madeline’s is more evolved.  I’ll call that win-win.

Easter Layout

I definitely need some ideas to mix up our Easter traditions.  The Easter bunny strings up the house leading each kid to her basket, but that’s getting weak.  I need to go bigger.  Any ideas??

Wishful Thinking Layout

Here is one of the layouts I did for Lexi’s half sleepover birthday party this past summer.  Having 15 girls here ranging in age from 3-8 made Simon (my nephew) feel like a rooster in a hen house.  He appropriately used the floor to ceiling mirror in our basement to get himself pumped for the occasion.  However, it didn’t even phase him that he didn’t get to stay for the party.  Heading to the movies and pounding a giant bucket of popcorn with Uncle Rich was just as good…

The One and Only...Jasmine!

Even people who don't like dogs like our Jazzy.  She's just a good pup!  And she had some pretty big paws to follow.  Beamer was the stuff they write Oscar-winning screenplays about, but Jazzy has to be the easiest-going dog that ever existed.  Our kids can pile-drive her, dress her up, tease her with treats, and she comes back for more.  My favorite part about Jazzarella, though, is the special relationship she has with Rich when neither of them think I'm looking.  I knew what I was doing when I sent him out to pick out our pup.  : )

Beachy Layout #2

I’m sharing this beach layout today to show why I journal to my children.  Each one has a crafted journal that I write in once or twice a month- just letters detailing their growth, events, development, and funny anecdotes.

This layout is from 2008, but I just now completed it.  Without the journals, there’s no way I would remember the details on our top 5’s.  So maybe the journals are just a crutch for a lazy scrapper, but I’d like to think the girls will enjoy them when they have children of their own.  And yes, that's my mother trying to scare my kids "Creature from the Black Lagoon" style.  Thanks, ma!

Winter Tropics

For Valentine’s Day, my in-laws gave the girls new Speedo bathing suits and Hawaiian hula monkey nightgowns to get us excited for our trip to Hawaii.  It worked!  Although, we’re not going until June, browsing our itinerary and the beautiful sunshine we had yesterday is all we needed to get through this last wintry push.  (Weight Watchers should help with the rest…)  So here is a beachy layout I completed at a recent retreat.  I love you, Summer!  Please hurry!  : )

Friends layout

Wow!  I hope your computer is interpreting the colors here better than mine.  That hunter’s orange is actually a softer peach in real life, but whatever.  I had a lot of CTMH’s “Key to My Heart” paper left over and decided it was perfect for friendship. 
I always enjoy seeing how the girls alter the layout to make it their own.  Some scrap teachers leading a layout claim there is a “right” way, but in art, my philosophy is whatever goes!  Gluing the pages together facing each other is the only line I’ve had to draw thus far.  : )

Jingle Christmas scrapbook layout

My 11 little scrapbook club ladies may only be ages 5-10, but they are hard-core scrappers!  We’re pulling out all the stops, not to mention glitter, snowflakes, and even some freehand drawing.  This is one of the two layouts we completed at our last meeting New Year’s Day.  Gotta love the Jingle paper from Close to my Heart.  Who knew red and pink could work together?  CTMH’s Building Block stamp set (“Merry”) is probably the set I use the most.  I just realized I DIDN’T use my Cricut on this page.  I guess there’s hope for me afterall!…

Woodgrove display

     I feel bad for Woodgrove High School kids sometimes.  There is Valley stuff every where you look- even our local grocery store has their green and gold jogging pants and scarves for sale next to the cheese.  But Woodgrove?  Nothing.  Maybe it’s the town's way of saying, ‘We know you’re here, but we don’t have to like it.’  *I* say, the litigation is done.  The school is here.  It’s a pretty nice one.  Let’s support these kids and make their high school years great ones!
 

  So in my small way, here is the beginning of a series of Woodgrove items I’m going to have for sale at my “booth” at the new funky store It’s Bazaar on 21st St. (Top of the stairs and just to the right.)  I’m also planning school color journals, photo cubes, fancy pens, scarves, maybe some jewelry, frames, locker cork boards, bigger logo corkboards, and who knows what else?  What would you LIKE to see?  If I can’t make it, I’ll bet I know someone who can!…

My Creative Space

I guess I’m just following Virginia Woolf’s advice and claiming a room of my own.  The focus is scrapbooking, but really it’s more of an art studio/inspirational zen space/Johnny Depp shrine.  I wish I could spend more time here, but it’s tucked away at the back of the basement far from the cries of the lil’ ones (which actually makes it that much more desirable.)  To make it practical, I’ve dragged tables out to the common area  where my kids play.   God forbid I should block the Play Station 3!  (From the DH, not the kids!)  Thanks for looking…



(And I guess I should take new pics, because these are 6 months old, and I forgot I rearranged everything since then…heh.)

Album Club- starting up in Sept.

Complete a 12 page consultant quality 12 x 12 album in just 6 evenings! Here’s how…
WHO: 6 person minimum (you and 5 friends)
WHEN: At your house or mine, meeting once every other month  for 12 months or every month for 6
COST: For the first month, you just purchase the album ($24.95 + shipping and tax)- I’ll cover the cost of all 12 page protectors and the first 2 layouts, for a total of 4 pages. At the next 5 meetings, we’ll create 2 layouts (4 pgs.) for $15 per meeting. If for whatever reason you can’t attend that month, I’ll assemble the layouts for you and hold them until the next month for an additional $5.
BENEFITS:
· You’re not stuck with leftovers you never intend to use
· You’re not required to make minimum purchases
· Everything is designed, pre-cut and ready to go
· It’s scheduled craft time for you!
· I use all the latest techniques and trends, which you could pay $50-100 for as classes at retail stores
· The layouts and themes are customized to you and your friends’ interests
· You have a completed album in record time and right around $100- a steal!
** You do not have to live locally to participate. I can send you the kit with everything you need with the exception of the stamp set and I’ll even split the extra shipping with you.
Here’s a layout we did in another club just to show you what to expect.

Let me know if you’re interested, and TFL!!

Riding High!

    
     Both my husband and father-in-law are 6'3-4" ish, giants to our little ones.  So here are two of the girls getting a birds' eye view of Hershey Park in 2008.  Since it won't be long before my now 7 year-old will be looking me in the eye, it would be neat to recreate this photo with her gangly legs hanging down my husband's chest.  We're actually on our way there tomorrow, but my father-in-law is currently RVing his way to Wisconsin.  I guess I'll have to step up...  : )

You Rock!

There's nothing like someone telling you they like your blog to light a fire under your butt to update it.  Seriously, sometimes I forget I even have them.  (My other one is coffeebreathcori.blogspot.com- I think)  So here is one of my favorite recent pages, my little rocker girl Madeline right around her 2nd birthday.  She's not shy, this one, and I have to wonder if the Hannah Montana reference will be lost on her by the time she can appreciate these pages.  Time will tell...

Another reason I'm so in love with this page is the paper.  I'm pretty sure the CTMH Gods said, "We need to design a paper pack just for Cori."  BAM!  Here it is- hippie rocker meets craft nerd.  Whoo!  Rainbow swirly, tie-dye paisleys?  Now we're talkin'.  Maybe it's because with three girls, I'm usually reduced to pink petals and ponies.  I love the...darkness of the paper combined with the bright swirls.  Okay, enough gushing.

Kissing Cousins

When we get all the kids together, there's never a dull moment- especially when Gram breaks out her most recent "treasure" find.  (That's her doing the jig in the background.)  I believe these lips were actually suckers made of high fructose corn syrup and some carbon compound.  : )

Animal Cookies is one of my favorite CTMH paper packs pretty much because I have kids.  The primary colors just pop and it's easy to coordinte non CTMH products with it- ribbon, glitter, letter stickers, etc.  Very versatile!  It also gave me an excuse to break out the foam numbers.  Thank God for liquid glass.

Hokie Grad

There is really nothing in this world (for me) like a weekend retreat at the beach scrappin' with my favorite crafty ladies.  It's an opportunity to make new like-minded friends and catch up with old ones.  Talk about re-charging the batteries!  The next several posts will be the product of how I spent the weekend....

Hokie Grad- this was one of my favorites a.) because I am also Hokie alum and b.) I got to scrap something other than my kids (not that I don't love them).  Can you tell I'm proud of my bro?

I used a Close to My Heart product called flip-flaps to creat a mini album on the bottom left hand page (see below).  The tricky part is slitting the page protector with an x-acto knife at just the right spot to allow the flaps to come through.  That way, when you are leafing through the album, you can access each flap without removing the page from the protector.

Hopefully one of my kids will go to Tech setting the stage for many more Hokie pages to come!  : )

Water Balloon Toss

Any chance to get wet!  Savannah loved participating in the water balloon toss with her daddy at the Moose Club picnic.  And she was surprisingly good!  I think it was more her pace than skills that had them as a couple of the last tossers.  Savannah was very proud of her wet spot on her shirt, but hopefully this will be the ONLY time she prances around in a wet t-shirt...

Picnic Time!

One good thing has come from Snowmadeggon 2010- I've got nothing but time to scrapbook.  And to preserve my sanity when the dominating color is white, I pulled out some pics of sunny and warmer days.  This is a spread from August at the Moose Club picnic in Winchester.  I forget which park it is, but there was a beautiful pond with a bike/walking path going around.  Lexi came home with several Susan B. Anthony's she won in the sawdust dig, Madeline cackled on the swings, and Savannah loved getting wet in the water balloon toss with her daddy.  (See future post).  Thanks, Aunt Janet, for inviting us to the picnic!