For You Santa *The ScrapRoom*

Leaving cookies out for Santa is a tradition I really miss. No more wide eyed wonder at the empty plate in the morning or arguments about which cookies were Santa's favorite. The truth came out this year during a conversation we had while I was looking through photos and the kids were peeking over my shoulder. Matthew admits that in his later years he would sneak downstairs and eat some of the cookies! (and I thought Eric was the one!) He looked so guilty admitting this even though he knows now that Santa wasn't eating them :)

More Christmas goodness from the December Flavor of the Month kit from The ScrapRoom.

Fussy cut the banner from patterned paper and added some Thickers :)

This Santa is from the Winter Frolic Cricut cartridge, I love that I can reverse the image with the Expression. Added some Stickles for that extra bling factor.

Now I'm off to "snuggle" with my teens and watch a movie. Christmas was my holiday off this year and starting tomorrow I have to pay the price for having 4 days off (if you don't figure being on call and called in) with a 4 day stretch over New Years. Adding in Wednesday and a 12 hour call slot on Thursday :( I really need to look at the big picture when I'm signing up for call and not do that to myself!

Merry Christmas to all!

He's a Future Heartbreaker! (Out for Publication!)

My little hunk when he was 2 years old. You can't see in this photo but my husband was pushing him around in this Little Tykes Coupe, he loved that car :)

Cut a heart out with my Cricut and used it as a mask for the spray ink and paint splatters. A little tracing with a marker helped it stand out a little better.

  I never imagined that he would grow up to look like this...

 

Destined to break a few hearts. Sorry in advance to the parents of those ill fated girls.

Dug through my old chipboard stash and found this perfect little stoplight.

Inked the Thickers and accented the bottom of the red letters with some of the blue ink. 

This boy themed collection from Echo Park  is one of my favorites.

I know I've been a sporadic blogger lately. Unfortunately I can't promise to be better. Someone has to take all these photos to scrap. In addition to this job and my full time nursing job, I'm also expected to find lost articles of clothing, keep everything washed and ready, run up to the school umpteen times a day to bring forgotten items, come to games or pick up the persons responsible for this list from practice. Oh and I forgot...bake cookies for the bake sale, come to meetings and be a "Band Mom". I'm sure you all know what I mean...but that's my excuse and I'm stickin' to it!

Splash!

I just love going through all my photos of the kids when they were little. Such sweet little faces :) Matthew was 8 months in these photos and it was his 1st time in a swimming pool. Aunt Linda & Uncle Vere were (and still are) kind enough to let the Hallgren family use their pool. Daddy got to be the pool buddy since Mommy doesn't really like cold water...in my book anything under 100 degrees is cold!

Used "Splash" from Echo Park. I knew I had some pictures in a box somewhere that would be perfect with this line :)

I've decided I really stink at faux stitching and need to stick to sewing! Anyone have any tricks up their sleeve?

This line came with a great sticker sheet. Popped some of the stickers and layered them.

Love the splash flourish! I actually tore it by accident and solved my blooper by tucking it under the photos and paper strips.

Googly eyes :)

Just looking at this layout makes me happy, with it's bright cheerful colors and silly fishes.

So excited!!! Tomorrow I'm leaving for a 3 day scrapbooking retreat :) Three glorious days of scrapping, eating, and socializing...not necessarily in that order. Off to try and pack my scraproom, how did I acquire so much stuff? I always say I'm not going to take so much but when I try to pack, my mind says "What if I need that?" and "What if I want to stamp and emboss!". My efforts to make kits always results in me changing my mind and wanting what I don't have.

I guess I'll have to endure those looks of disbelief as I drag in half my scraproom. The bonus to everyone else is that I share my tools and scraps... sometimes even embellies :}  Have a good weekend, I'll report back on Monday!

In a Flash thinking*through*design {Out for Publication!}

Our assignment for thinking*through*design this week was to use calendars on our layouts. A concept that stumped me for a minute. As I sat looking through photos it struck me how quickly time has passed since the kids were born...and that's when this idea struck me.



 A quick shuffle through my keepsake drawer yielded some old pocket calendars. A grid design seemed a logical choice and fit my linear personality :) My little used 2x2 square punch got a workout. Then I spent a good amount of time searching for this doily like cut in my Cricut cartridge stash. Finally found it in the Straight from the Nest cartridge! It seemed to coordinate well with the pattern in one of the papers from Echo Park. The little camera is on the Going Places cartridge.

Placing the inner square on an angle gave it an element of surprise, it seemed so boring all straight and narrow :)

Tried to use a variety of photos from when they were babies to now to represent the passage of time.

See the little calendars

Yummy Thickers :)

Used photos from my leftovers, the ones I printed and didn't use or extras of ones I already scrapped. A great way to use up all those extra photos, a tip I learned from Stacey Julian.

Pop on over to thinking*through*design to check out the other inspiring layouts ans then create your own layout using calendars!

I'm totally jealous of all the gals on their way to Chicago for CHA :} It's always been my dream to walk the floors  and peruse all the new goodies and meet all my scrapping idols. I know...I'm a goober or stalker as my kids would say! Plus I only live 2 1/2 hours from Chicago!

Off to try to do some scrapping. We have yet another day of 90 degree weather in store and I'm sure the kids will be begging to go to the lake. How can I resist ?!

Party for 2

My daughter is such a pill! Her ability to be silly and mature at the same time is so endearing. She brought this abandoned pinata home from school one day. A week or so later she finished it and I asked her what she was going to do with it. "Hit it Mom" she said, in that "Duh" Mom voice :) The next time her friend Emily came over she asked if they could walk to the store to buy candy. They returned, filled the pinata, proceeded to hang it from the swing set and ...well the rest is obvious. It only took a few whacks and it was over. They picked up the candy and had a sugar fest :)

I wasn't sure how to scrap a pinata whacking without a party ... then this title came to me.

The balloons from the Echo Park Hello Summer collection were a perfect party icon.

Used some brads to hang twine for the banner stickers.

The title was cut from the "Birthday Bash" cartridge and then covered with Glossy Accents.

I love the bright happy prints in this collection. Right up my alley :)

Another day of 100 degree weather in our forecast. I can't remember a hotter or dryer summer! My plants are suffering and there isn't going to be much of a harvest from the vegetable garden. Only the tomatoes and peppers are doing well :( The weeds are definitely winning.

Mimi and I are going to brave a trip to the mall for necessities. Have a great day and try to stay cool!

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!

At the Beach...

Is where I'd like to be right now, preferably in Florida or any other warm place! My hands and feet are freezing and take forever to get warm.

Echo Park's "Splash" collection jumped right out at me when thumbing through my papers, the colors were a perfect match for these photos of my kids at the beach. Lake Michigan is the perfect place to be in the summer. No salt water or jellyfish to ruin the experience :) My kids used to love going to Silver Beach. Not only was there a sandy beach and loads of sand, but a play structure and concession stand to make it perfect.

The colors are off on this one because I had to photograph it at night, then Photoshop the heck out of it! The background papers aren't two shades of blue either. I went with a simple look to let the photos shine.

Used Basic Grey chipboard letters for "Beach", first applying the paper and then covering in Modge Podge to add some shine (with the added benefit that the Modge Podge made the colors deeper). The journaling spot was stamped with a  WR Memory Keepers acrylic stamp. Fancy Pants buttons and Echo Park stickers.

Martha Stewart border punch. WR Memory Keepers baker's twine.  Oops...almost forgot "at the", American Crafts chipboard letter "Thickers" painted and Modge Podged.

Took Dad to one of his Dr's today. Resolved some issues in regards to his pain needs, thank goodness!  Apparently there is a shortage of 12"x12" Cricut mats, went to 3 different places in Kalamazoo and ended up buying 12"x24". I'm going to try cutting them into two. What's a girl to do...I need them now, not in 3 days ;)

The "Not So Happy Girl"

Ever since Mariel was a baby, she has been sensitive to loud noises. They make her cry :( especially if she isn't expecting them. Matthew's loud screech startled her and she burst into tears! Naughty boy.

This green Echo Park paper was a perfect match to Matthew's Jammie's.

"Happy" was placed on dark brown cardstock then cut out and popped.

Hand sketched the vines then stitched. The cute teddy bear just seemed to fit :)

Thanks for popping by! Off to run a myriad of errands. So excited to get my hair done today, it's been 5 months! Stop at Secretary of States, pick up Mimi's contacts, pick up Mimi for Orthodontist appointment and try to find a guitar case for Matthew! Phew!

Snips & Snails

and Puppy Dog Tails. Love the phrases on the "Boys Will Be Boys" Cricut cartridge! I was in love with this sweet boy from the minute I held him but these pics really made my heart melt :) He looks so GQ, posing in my magazine basket. It's hard to believe he is almost 15 years old.

I instantly thought of these stickers and the adorable puppy dog. I'm so happy Echo Park came out with this line, it's so hard to find primary colored papers! I trimmed the photos down to minimize the clutter in the background and used the embellies to hide our dog's blurry head in the foreground.

The vellum helped tone down the bright colors so your eye is drawn to the photos.

Title is popped and yellow accents are DCWV glitter paper. Of course no layout of mine feels complete without some stitching.

Snips & Snails Supply List:
Cardstock: Bazzill, Die Cuts With a View; diecut border: Bazzill; patterned paper: Echo Park; letter stickers: Making Memories; stickers: Sticko, EK Success (dog,plane), Martha Stewart (tag); flower: Recollections; punch: EK Success; circle cutter: Coluzzle, Provo Craft; pen: Marvy Le Plume II; adhesive: Paper Studio, Tombow; misc: floss, vellum.

Off to the Farmers Market to try & sell more plants tomorrow. Wish me luck! Thanks for stopping :)