I Love Gramps

I rarely use a sketch twice, mainly because there are so many great sketches out there. This one by Sketchy Thursdays called to me again :) I found these photos of my Dad and Matthew when looking through Matthew's baby photos. There seemed to be a yellow cast to them, so choosing the paper was a little more difficult than usual. This paper by My Minds Eye had been in my stash forever, just waiting for these photos!

These corrugated letters from Making Memories started the standard kraft color but morphed with acrylic paint, chalk ink and marker, before I was satisfied.

The twine was a happy accident. I was digging through my ribbons and it fell out onto my layout :) 

Can't get enough of border punches...when will my obsession end!?

Tucked the journaling behind the photo, I love how it eliminated the need to find room on the layout. It really felt good to use some of my stash! Not one of these items was purchased in the last year, in fact, most are several years old.

After Mimi & I picked up the new retainers today we went shopping. Eric turned 51 today and we wanted to pick him up a couple of treats. A box of Fannie May Pixies and some doodads for one of his tools and he was quite happy. We had some quality time shopping at Plato's Closet. She picked out 2 cute skirt and blouse combos, tights, a cute jeweled owl ring, and a feathered hair accessory. More photo fodder for her Mommy :)

Now off to bed. Work the next 2 days and then a blessed 5 days off in preparation for the 4-12 hour shifts of torture over Thanksgiving!

Dumpster Diving...My New Occupation

Yes, I've been reduced to dumpster diving. Last week my lovely daughter unwittingly threw her brand new retainers away! The wonderful retainers that are clear so you can see how pretty her teeth are now. Into the school lunchroom trash they went and she didn't realize it until after she returned to her class. The trash had been bagged up and emptied into the dumpster.

I really didn't want to tell her Uncle Steve (who did all her orthodontics non gratis) that she'd thrown them away, and I figured this would be a good deterrent to doing it again, so off to the dumpster we went. Six giant trash bags later...covered in taco fixings and a multitude of other goodies (it happened to be "sampling" day), we gave up. It didn't help that the current high school gym class was hanging out of the windows yelling "trash pickers!" and the yellow jackets were chasing us around the dumpster.

So, mean Mommy that I am, I was going to make her pay at least half of the cost of her replacements. Daddy saved the day by putting it on our flex spending account. Why does he get to be the good guy!? Now I'm off for the 2nd time today to Kalamazoo, to pick them up. This morning was spent with my Dad at the vascular surgeon having the rest of his staples out and an ultrasound to check the flow in his fistula. Woe is me, pity party for myself going on here :( Missing my scrapping time.

Hoping to get a layout posted tonight if the computer is cooperating...and that is another story :)

There's Nothing Like a Good Friend!

Emily and Mariel have been friends since they were born :) I have pictures of them when they were a year old playing in the leaves. My BFF Lerita and I were pregnant together and delivered about 6 weeks apart. I love how they can go weeks without seeing each other yet it's like they've never been apart when they are back together. Just like Lerita and I!

We had an impromptu photo shoot right before we went shopping with the girls at Plato's Closet. Plato's Closet is a resale shop for teens and Mariel's favorite place to shop. I wish I'd taken my camera along, they were so cute trying on all their sassy selections. Mimi kept forgetting to hold her door when she came out to show what she was trying on, then the door would shut and lock. After the sales girl had to unlock it for the 3rd or 4th time, we made her start climbing under the door :) A pretty funny sight since the gap was barely tall enough for her to slip under. She came home with a pair of jeans, several shirts, a sweater jacket, a hoodie, earrings and a couple of necklaces all for $65. All brand names and some of the items still had the tags on them!

Used "Indie Bloom" by Basic Grey, it matched their outfits perfectly and has that boho, youthful feel I was going for :) Misted over a laser cut paper by Reminisce with smooch ink to create the background.

Traced around the title to make it more visible.

Prima center on punched flower, used a pencil to recurve the petals.

Cut the big petals with the Sizzix, crumpled, inked and layered with a Basic Grey felt flower.

Used lots of Distress ink to grunge it up.

A little brighter and busier than my usual but I'm mixin' it up ladies! Have a great day :)

Wow...a 2 pager!

This is one I did for a Creating Keepsakes sketch challenge. It's getting harder to find papers to go with my sons' baby & toddler wardrobe, since most of his outfits were red and blue. Why didn't I dress him in other colors?! If only I'd known then, that I was going to be a "scrapbooker" and chosen a wide variety of colors so I could use my bountiful stash :) Oh, and while I was at it...taken better and more plentiful photos.

All the cuts are done with the "Birthday Bash" Cricut cartridge. Couldn't have been a better fit!

Used "Rocket Age" by October Afternoon patterned paper. Did a little stitching around the circles.

The rest of the tile reads "and I will hold your lolly if you want me to!".

Cut the title 3 times and offset them then popped with foam. Love the 3-D effect.

Had a wonderful Sunday! Received a "star" day from work for 12 hours and didn't get called in! Finished a layout and photographed a backlog of layouts and edited them. Snuggled with Mimi on the couch and watched Eclipse in preparation for the new movie Breaking Dawn. We always watch all the movies in a series the week before a new release to amp up the excitement. We are both "Team Edward". Mimi says " You cougar you!", I had to explain that our bodies age but our minds don't. She gave me that "wiser than her years look" and smiled. Hope you had a wonderful day too!

Kind, Sweet, Beautiful,Friend. *Out for Publication* Yea!

Basic Grey has been hitting it out of the park with paper designs lately, I just can't get enough! "Sweet Threads" has to be one of my favorites, right up there with "Lemonaide" and "Green at Heart". Gorgeous  bright pink, orange, & green...perfect for the girly, shabby chic style I've been leaning toward lately.

This is one of my favorite pictures from this year. When I first viewed it on the computer, I was struck by how much Mariel and I look like one another. This wasn't always the case. I've always had difficulty seeing the resemblence, instead seeing her resemblence to her Dad.

Used some vintage lace and punched the butterflies from vintage sheet music.

Used an Anna Griffin lace diecut as a stencil then flipped it and used it on the layout.

Inked the edges of everything to add a slightly grungy, teenagy look, Not sure if teenagy is a word, maybe current is a better term :) I did this layout for a challenge from Scrapbook Trends to scraplift a layout from the September 2011 issue. I chose "Dada's Wishes for You" by Amy Heller on page 53.

On another note...it was another eventful week here. Dad, aka "Grandpa Joe" had to have an unexpected surgery on his fistula on Saturday. Up at 4:30am and at Borgess by 6am. He was in surgery for about 3 1/2 hours and came out with 22 staples in his arm! Spent an hour and a half in recovery then went to dialysis for another 4 hours, not counting set up and take down. We finally made it home at 8pm.

He is having a hard time recovering from the anesthetic this time. Lots of sleeping and forgetfulness. I hope he doesn't have to have surgery again anytime soon. The good thing is that his fistula is working again. I did get to play with his new "smart" phone during all the waiting and discovered I'm jealous. I want one (insert pouty face), although I hate to admit it...I can't see to work it without my granny glasses :}} Unfortunately it isn't in the budget, so I'll have to settle for playing with his phone.

Thanks for stopping by!