My Medusa

She was the prettiest evil Goddess ever! She decided about a week before Halloween that she wanted to be Medusa, creating a mad scramble to find a pattern for a suitable "Goddess" dress. Finding a pattern turned out to be the least of my worries! Snakes...I thought they would be easy. Nope. I went from store to store trying to find plastic snakes with no success. None at the Dollar Store, Target, Meijers, Walmart, TJ Maxx, Hobby Lobby and on & on. Guess where I found them...The Party Store! In the section where they have bins of party favors.

Getting them to stay in her hair is a whole other story :)

I really wanted a large snake for the background but couldn't find one on any of my Cricut cartridges. First I sketched and cut it out of scrap paper until it was the right size and shape, then traced it onto a piece of Core'dinations paper. It needed some texture so I ran it through the Cuttlebug. This was tricky, it was too big so I had to run it through in sections. A little sanding, a couple of gems and he was perfect!

The earrings were a lucky find at the Hospital gift shop.

The orange was a bit too bright so I misted it to tone it down.

More misting on the journaling spot

A snake from her hair made a perfect embellishment!

Halfway through a hellishly busy week. Work, track meet, conferences, Dr. appointments, ect., ect. I need a vacation! No Spring Break for me :(  Maybe I'll run away to the hot tub tonight...aaahhh :}

Kindergarten Carnival

Life was so much simpler back then. School was fun, there was hardly any homework, and recess was the best part of the day :)

I'd been holding onto these photos for quite some time, trying to find the perfect paper to go with his royal blue shirt. I finally decided that navy and sky blue were as close as I was going to get. Wouldn't you know... I found some boyish paper with royal blue the very next day! Anyhow, I'm really happy with how this layout turned out.

You may recognize a Sketch Support sketch, I can't live without them! When I'm short on mojo, I just pull one out.

The sketch had a wavy border of stars going across both pages, instead I used a strip of this adorable paper by Echo Park.

Used my trusty Cricut for the stars, the Stand and Salute cartridge. Love being able to cut a 10 inch star!

Used the "Opposite" font from the Opposites Attracts cartridge and cut 2 in contrasting colors, layered them and slightly offset to create a shadow like effect. Finished with a coat of matte Modge Podge over the top

On another note... I hate it when the Internet is down!!! It was down all day here and was driving me crazy. I'll admit it's a short drive but seriously. Now both kids want to use it at the same time and they are bickering incessantly. Aaargh!

It started with my son discovering that I'd taken my daughter to the movies without him the other night. Never mind that he was having fun at a school "Lock In" during that time. Now it's "How could you?" and "You never take me anywhere!" I suspect my dear daughter left those tickets out on her dresser on purpose, especially since her Dad found them in her pocket and I instructed her to destroy the evidence (I knew what his reaction would be). Then it was a screaming fit between the two because he went into her room and saw said tickets, which she knew he would do....sigh. 

Why did I think it was going to be easier when they were older?

Spring Has Sprung!

But here in Michigan we know it is short lived :( Mother Nature has decided to give us all Spring Fever a month early and I'm running a 103 degrees! It is gorgeous outside...75 and sunny, soft breeze, birds singing and bulbs blooming. I have to keep reminding myself that it could snow next week and be cold for another month. I just hope she doesn't decide to make Spring last throughout the Summer, she's been known to do that :) 

Here are some photos to get you in the mood, in case you live somewhere she hasn't blessed.

Yellow Crocus

The frogs and toads are mating, you can hardly hear, they are calling so loud!

Dainty Jonquils, they are only 6-8 inches high.

Like a ray of sunshine :)

Serviceberry budding up.

Fabulous Forcythia :)

Pestites Variagata flowering.

Is there anything finer than God's creations :)

I'm off to do some more yard cleanup and enjoy this fine weather while it lasts. Scrapping will have to wait, who knows how long this weather will hold. More layouts to share later this week!

Birds of a Feather...

Flock Together! Love the bright, saturated colors of this line (Alora) by Bo Bunny. The bird icons sparked the title and it's a perfect fit. My sister and I share the same quirky sense of humor and so do our kids :) I'm really loving the resurgence of photo booths everywhere. This one was at the carousel in Saint Joseph and we couldn't resist...take a good gander at the size of Mimi's mouth in the one photo. She's laughing hysterically because we bumped heads while trying to fit 4 of them into the booth.

Cardstock: Stampin' Up; patterned paper, chipboard: Bo Bunny; journaling spot: KI Memories; letter stickers: American Crafts, Bo Bunny; buttons: Basic Grey; brads: Sassafrass; twine: WR Memory Keepers; ink: Smooch, Clearsnap; pen: Sakura; corner rounder punch: EK Success; adhesive: 3L, Therm O Web, Tombow.

 

I've been in a corner rounding mood lately :P

Adding the date and location was a definite improvement on the old booths.

It's kind of hard to see in the photos but there is Smooch ink sprinkled on the paper, it is really shiny and metallic looking in person.

My letter sticker stash is quickly overtaking my Thickers in volume...who can resist all those delicious colors and fonts?

Worked outside for several hours in the glorious, unseasonably warm, sunshiney weather :} Just hoping a cold snap doesn't kill any of the plants fooled by this impostor of a spring! This weather is killing my scrapping mojo and my back. Going to try and resist the call of the sun tomorrow and do some scrapping. If I don't, my husband might have to help me out of bed on Monday morning!

Just Ducky!

For some reason I've been drawn to tiles with the word "just" in them or maybe I'm just in a title rut :P  It just seemed to fit with the cute little ducks on her outfit and her cheerful disposition. I remember those adorable chubby legs toddling around the house and how I cried when those little rolls of babyhood were gone. Each year older and one of the three rolls would disappear. Used some of my "loot" (won on their blog) from Pebbles Inc. and a wonderful Becky Fleck sketch as inspiration.

Cardstock: Bazzill; patterned paper: Pebbles Inc.; journaling spots: Jillibean Soup, Little Yellow Bicycle; letter stickers: American Crafts, My Little Shoebox; stickers: Pebbles Inc.; ribbon: American Crafts; diecutting machine: Cricut, Provo Craft (Simply Charmed cartridge); pearls: Recollections; punch: Martha Stewart; marker: Marvy Uchida; pen: Sakura; adhesive: 3L, Tombow.

Can't get enough foam adhesive! Used markers to ink edges of the adorable ducky.

Cut one of the journaling spots into 3 pieces to create background for title and flowers.

Yea, another batch of "bad" baby photos scrapped! This sketch allowed me to crop out the very dark background and bring all the attention to my sweet baby girl...who is now 13!

I'm Running a Little Behind...

I realized didn't post any of Matthew's wrestling pictures! Bad Mom! Now wrestling "uniforms" are a sight to behold. So if skintight spandex mixed with teenage boys gives you pause, you'd better cover your eyes ;)

Matthew had a pretty good first year. This was his first year wrestling ever, not just high school. His record was 3 wins/ 4 losses. Here he is pinning an opponent. Go Bubba!

                                                            



This next match is against a much more experienced Senior. Boy is it hard to watch your son get slammed to the mat and pinned :(  Now I know how the other Mom felt!

I'm so proud of him! I can't wait until next year to see how much he improves, but first we have to get through track and another season of football!

Time to head to bed, darn time change is tonight and I lose an hour of sleep. Not such a big deal if it wasn't my weekend to work. Eager to bury my nose in a good book. Currently  reading "Hunger games" in preparation for the movie premiere next week. Very interesting story line, I wonder how it will translate to the big screen.

Dragonslayer *Out for Publication* :)

Isn't this castle the cutest?! It's from the "Wrap It Up" Cricut cartridge. There are several icons on this cartridge that I knew I would use and this was one of them. There is also a pirate ship, gingerbread house and baby carriage. Watch for them in the future :)

Marquee in background is from "Storybook".

there are 4 layers to the castle, I popped the salmon colored one and inked the edges of all.

and all paper is Echo Park. American Girl by EK Success flowers and Doodlebug brads.

Can't get enough of the banner from "Stand and Salute"! Older American craft Thickers.

I love these pictures the most because they are actually getting along! Dress up used to be their favorite thing to play. All their Halloween costumes and any other props I could find were kept in a big Rubbermaid box in the closet. They would pull them out and put the wildest combos together. Mimi got the biggest kick out of chasing Matthew around the house with that sword, go figure. I wish I'd taken more photos when they were little...probably a common lament among newer scrapbookers.

The weather is lovely, sunny, 60 and a little windy. Spring is on it's way, YAY! Definitely going outside for a while today. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Girl

Just can't get enough of the bright pink in this Little Yellow Bicycle "Paradise" line! It's such a perfect pop of color against the more subdued tones. I created this layout for a fabric challenge over at Creating Keepsakes. The flowers were really simple to make. Cut them out freehand and adhered to a piece of cardstock with a little tape runner in the center, then stitched on top. The leaves are cut from a piece of polka dot netting from Webster's Pages. A little stitching and bling and they were done!

Cardstock: Bazzill, patterned paper: Little Yellow Bicycle; diecuts, stickers: Little Yellow Bicycle; letter stickers: American Crafts, K & Co.; punches: E K Success; gems: Kaiser Kraft, Recollections; fabric: Jo Ann Fabrics; netting: Websters Pages; ink: Clearsnap; pen: Sakura; floss: DMC; adhesive: Therm O Web, Tombow; sewing machine: Viking; misc: thread.

Kinda getting into my corner rounder lately, and one can't have too many border punches either :)

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Grandparents Day really meant a lot to my children 

when they were in grade school. They loved having them visit!

Hopefully, after 5 days of rest the muscle will have healed enough to go to work. Feels like someone knuckled my calf and it's bruised but you can't see anything. Stretching and heat don't seem to make a difference :(

Getting a sorely needed break from the busy sports schedules. Basketball and Wrestling are done too  :}

Time to gear up for track and possibly Soccer. Mimi is undecided on whether to play soccer or run track.

Thanks for stopping by, I'm off to bed since it's 2am! Aaack! I don't usually stay up this late but the beasties were restless tonight and didn't want to settle down and go to bed. They can't seem to get the concept of keeping a schedule. Of course if you stay up until 2 in the morning you are going to be tired and crabby!

March Sketch Challenge

My friend Amanda over at Love Joy Paper is hosting her monthly sketch challenge and she has invited me to play along! Her lovely sketch can be interpreted in so many ways or kept just as it is, either way it's a great sketch :)

Here is the sketch:

And my interpretation:

Cardstock: Bazzill, Stampin' Up; patterned paper: Bo Bunny; letter stickers: American Crafts; flowers: Petaloo; buttons: Sassafrass; diecuts: K & Co., Little Yellow Bicycle; marker: Marvy Uchida; bakers twine: Martha Stewart; adhesive: 3L, Therm O Web, Tombow.

I chose to keep the original photo, title, and journaling placement. These papers by Bo Bunny just begged to be fussy cut for the background!

You know me and Thickers...it's a love affair :P

Love the movement of the swirls.

Those buttons came pre threaded and sticky! What a concept :)

The seagulls were a perfect finishing touch.

Pop on over to Amanda's blog and participate in her challenge for a chance to win an awesome prize!

Big Hugs

When my kids were little this was one of our favorite phrases. "Give *insert name* a BIG HUG!" only say it while drawing out the syllables. Matthew's sweet expression when he gave his Daddy a hug melted my heart. The photo quality stinks...too dark, back lighting and now faded but still scrap worthy.

When I start a page, first I select the papers and finding just the right paper was difficult. Bright colors accented the poor quality and made the photos disappear on the page. Muted and monochromatic fit the bill.

Then I go through all my embellishments and pull everything I think might coordinate (this is why my scraproom looks like a tornado hit when I'm done). This page is a mix of a lot of manufacturers!

Cardstock: Bazzill; patterned paper: Echo Park, Little Yellow Bicycle, Making Memories; letter stickers: American Crafts; chipboard letters: Die Cuts with a View; stickers: Crate Paper, Echo Park, Jillibean Soup; fabric brads, journaling spots: Basic Grey; diecuts: Little Yellow Bicycle; punches: EK Success, Martha Stewart; brad: Sassafrass; pen: Sakura; marker: Marvy Uchida; floss: DMC; adhesive: 3L, Therm O Web, Tombow; misc: twine, vintage buttons.

The text paper is an oldie from Making Memories. Originally the green zig zag like border was on the outside but I cut it off and used it as a frame around the middle paper, then sanded it a little to tone down the green.

These corrugated flowers didn't start out as flowers! They were diecuts that didn't fit my page so I punched these coordinating flowers out of them.

Aren't the little birdies cute mimicking the positions of my hubby & son :)

Outlined the white letters to help them stand out better.

I love the finished layout :) Feel like I succeeded in making the photos the stars of the page. Tell me what you think, I can take it :}