Too Tired for Complicated Pages

Ho, Ho, Ho, It's my "after Christmas I'm so tired I can't think straight" time of year. 

Time for an easy page layout.  It helps that the paper was so easy to work with.  Heidi Swapp's No Limits paper pack had this arrow border paper that needed little but to pile on some coordinating papers under my photo. 

I added a few things; stamped title, a (for real) Bingo card, some tags (Pink Paislee and Tim Holtz), several banner stickers (from Glitz) for who, what, when kind of journaling, a strip of paper and a length of washi tape for the photo to rest on.  After that, I fussy cut some of the circles from the circle patterned paper (I think that one was a scrap of old Cosmo Cricket), added some leftover pieces of border stickers, and  glued on some teeny gold star sequins.  But that's really about it. This was just stuff that was out on my desk and within easy reach.   Just what I needed right now, an easy, no brainer kind of page. 

I know I mentioned posting some of my gift card holders...the pictures I took were pretty awful.  My daughter did put them aside Christmas Day so I could take photos again and hopefully I do a better job this time and can get that post up in the next day or two.  (Cuz they really did turn out cute!) 

best,
Cheryl

It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas - Without Christmas Papers! Say What?

I've said it before.  I don't have much in the way of Christmas papers.  It's not that I don't scrapbook Christmas, I do.  We just do not seem to have Christmas colors going on in our photos and they never have seemed to look right on traditional Christmas-y papers. 

In more recent years, lots of paper companies have designed papers using non-traditional colors, so they are out there, yeah!  But I've gotten kind of used to making things "merry and bright" without the use of Christmas themed papers.  I have some....see,  Oh, Deer! that I did use Christmas paper (Wassail from Basic Grey) on.  But more often than not, I've used whatever papers are on hand, combined with Christmas embellishments, sayings, punches or dies to create that Christmas feeling. 

I used old, old, old My Mind's Eye papers on this page, along with stickers from a short-lived, but extra sweet company called Girl's Paperie.  The vellum stickers are from Little Yellow Bicycle (a bargain, purchased on clearance at good old Hobby Lobby for $1.07), the Joy To The World title was made from little scrabble style letters from EK Success (and those are years and years old, you don't even want to know how long I've had those things hanging around), the glitter brads were from Making Memories, the star shaped buttons are Prima, and the ribbon is actually a piece of seam binding, scrunched and taped into place.  I added some random dots of dark red Stickles glitter glue and some outlining around the edge of the page. 

The photo is from my daughter's Christmas card circa 2006 and I only just got this scrapped---what can I say---this is how I roll--I scrap what I want, when I want and never in any particular order! The holidays can be overwhelming for lots of us...why make it any harder on yourself?  Scrap, craft, sew, bake, whatever you do, do what you love.  It makes things loads easier.  And just know, you do not have to have the perfect holiday papers to make a perfectly joyous holiday page. 

best
Cheryl

Updated Uses for Old Supplies

My bad.  Haven't blogged in a whole week.  Since Thanksgiving we've done the small town Christmas parade with the grandkids (and kids), had a house showing, spent another evening with the grandies because mommy had to travel for work (meaning Nana picked them up from their respective schools, fed them, checked school papers, and had Miss Isabella do her "homework"  -- loved this!).  So much busy-ness going on here. 

The kids here last night were "stamping" with some little Scooby and friends rubber stamps (I've had these since Jacob was little---they've more than paid for the $1.75 they cost me some 15 years ago!!!).  And it was how excited they got over this that made me think of the following page and the using old supplies thing. 

The papers were mostly older Cosmo Cricket and there is an overlay (old 7 Gypsies--from before photo overlays were all the rage).  New additions to update the page a bit was the use of washi tapes, the little cluster of tabs (punched, fussy cut and stickers) and the more updated use of two alphabet styles in the title.  Did a little outlining, added the chipboard star/circle piece (that was part of a pack purchased at Tuesday Morning for a whopping $.99 several months ago), and did my journaling using the lines of the background paper (since I cannot write in a straight line for love nor money!). 

Old supplies can sooooo be updated depending upon how they are used.  (And old supplies, or toys, are new again in new little hands.)  Jacob absolutely adored Scooby Doo and all the Scooby cartoons and movies and I'm glad to see that (old) Scooby is still well loved by my (new) youngest grandies.  I sense another Scooby layout sometime in my future! 

best,
Cheryl 

Thankful for Friends

The pumpkin pies just came out of the oven, old Tom the turkey has defrosted quite well in the fridge over the past couple days, the ingredients for artichoke dip are lined up ready to go in the mini crockpot, the bread cubes for stuffing have been seasoned and have dried out nice and crunchy, and the apple pie is set to go into the oven bright and early in the morning.  Potatoes-check, corn-check, dinner rolls-check.  All is ready for a Thanksgiving Day feast.  And of course I am thankful for family, which will be arriving (invading?) at about 11 a.m. tomorrow with even more food goodies.  But what else? 

Friends.  I am so grateful and fortunate to be able to count these two ladies as friends. 

The page?   I wanted to use white. White on white on white   I applied some white modeling paste on the background through a honeycomb stencil, used a whitewashed looking barn board paper, vellum and a piece of white handmade paper for layering.  I also used a piece of diagonally striped black and white paper (Crate, the DIY collection) as a photo mat.   Then added the white die cut (Sizzix, Stem and Leaves I think it's called), painted the wood veneer butterflies and "Laugh" with Picket Fence White stain, split a white doily in two, tied on some white (and gold) baker's twine, and added a scrap of off-white lace trim.  And because there is so much white, I repeated the black and white diagonal striped papers at the top and bottom of the page, curling up and bending the edges bit.

I saw a quote these words on a church message board the other day, "When you are down to nothing, the Lord is up to something."  I hope so.  I have to believe so.   In the meantime, we are warm and snug. We will be together.  We have family.  We have friends. 

Happy Thanksgiving all. 
Cheryl 





 

Favorites - The Last Installment - I Promise

Probably sick of my oldies but goodies, huh?  Well, bear with me through one more session while I get this out of my system... 

Favorite # 7 - a two page layout

This set of pages isn't that old, the papers are, but the layout I did just this past summer and it has become a favorite due to the contrast between the photos, papers and the black background page.  The photos, paper feathers, and title pops and I was able to include six photos across the two pages. 

Favorite #8  - a one pager

Another more recent layout.  Again, it's the simplicity and the colors I think I am drawn to.  The red and yellow plays off the colors of my Isabella's little shirt and it feels to me like a summer day, a play day.  Still not a ton of embellishments, but those that are on the page are sprinkled on to lead the eye diagonally across the page, so I guess while I really do love all the embellies that are out there on the market for us to play with, I really don't NEED a lot of them to make my pages work for me. 


Favorite # 9 - another one pager

This has to be one of the first pages selected as a favorite that is heavier on the embellishments.  But it's still not the embellishments that I think make me happiest with this page.  I think, for me, that it the embellishments would actually detract from the page if it were not for the monochromatic color scheme.  (and that little behind just makes me laugh)

And finally,

Favorite #10 - a one pager

This is the most recent of my favorites and it is embellishment heavy, but it really only works (for me that is) because the embellishments are the layers for the photo and are somewhat subtle in color.  If the ephemera stuff I layered up was brighter in color or more modern and not vintage in feel, I think it would have over-powered the photo. 

I've learned a lot by going back through layouts and selecting some favorites and then trying to view the pages objectively to determine what about them I really like.  It's not going to be the same for everyone...but for me I've learned that I can be really happy with simpler pages.  I should maybe quit struggling to include a bunch of embellishments (maybe just because everyone else is using them I've tried to use them too?) and focus on color, small tight clusters of embellies or tiny embellies sprinkled on in select areas. 

So, maybe go back through your pages and try to take an objective view of them to determine what you really are drawn to.  It's been a true learning experience for me.  I will still try new techniques, my style will still change and evolve, but I will try to pay attention to the core things that make me happy with a page. 

Done blabbing on this subject...blah, blah, blah and returning shortly to the posting of new pages and such... 

best,
Cheryl

My Favorite Layouts

A fellow scrapping buddy and I were talking about favorite layouts and what made them our favorites.  Now lots of time, the most recent layout I have finished is my current favorite.  But when looking through albums (or when I page way back in my blog), I found I have favorites that are not current at all...not current materials...or styles...or even current photos.  Happily, most of the time, it's the photos and the memories they evoke.  But if I look at the page as a whole, I'm surprised at some of my favorites. 

So here are some of my all time favorite pages...and a little bit about why. 

Favorite Layout #1 - a two pager

I love the colors and the little accents of aqua gemstones (reminds me of water droplets).  It feels like a bright, hot summer day at the pool when I look at these pages and I love that they make me feel like this.  I love the mix of patterns, and the dash of clean white here and there and that even with the inclusion of 5 photos, I I can still see the paper patterns.   

Favorite Layout #2

What makes this one a fave?  That look on my boy's face!  Now about the layout... the paper layers, sitting on the stacked strips and a title tucked in, nice and tight (also that little bunny-- that silly little bunny).  

and one more for today

Favorite #3 -- another two pager

Always love red, white and blue... what else makes this a favorite?  The buttons and stars and the layers of border pieces with that piece of pleated fabric, and I am still loving that title in various fonts, but word and color coordinated.  The linear photo placement appeals to me...much as I like pattern and color, I crave order (split personality, perhaps?). 

I used to do almost all two page layouts; I do them now sometimes, but I no longer feel as though I absolutely must have two pages together in an album.    I am a work in progress and so are my pages, my style evolves and changes. But, there are things that I can see that I gravitate toward; linear placement of photos and border strips, color speaks strongly to me, scattering small embellishments to lead the eye, leaving some clean or open spaces to let the eye rest. 

to be continued...
 Best! 
Cheryl

Not So Traditional Baby Page

OK, I know baby photos are typically all soft and ethereal or cutsie-patootsie (technical term, cutsie-patootsie--you know all bunnies and toys and such).  But Jackson was seated in a child's leatherette wing chair, looking rather like Winston Churchill...um, just did not really lend itself to said cutsie-patootsie. 

So I went with a distressed (Paper Loft) background paper and layered up the photo with coordinating papers in blues and browns, some tags, wood veneer butterflies, tiny paper clip and several small red accents (the baker's twine, the tiny red game pieces...love me a tiny red accent or two or three!!!). 

The tile letters in the title are Thickers, the other alpha is from Basic Grey, the Clippings collection.  I also added a little more stamping, the "love your face" and the arrows. 

Bubba-Lu is what we often call Jackson.  He's a big boy.  Always been a big boy.  Hence "Bubba."   A while ago, at lunch, I prompted him, "Come on Bubba Lu, let's eat", when his sister admonished me, in her ever so prim and proper 4-year old voice, "His name is Jackson Daniel."  To which he knitted up his eyebrows, pursed his little lips, leaned over the table and replied, "I a Bubba-U!"  Cracked me up!   Had to get this on a page.  Yes, Jackson, we do indeed call you Bubba-Lu. 

Love you, Bubba-Lu.
Nana

Scrapping Not-So-Great Photos

We've all got 'em.  We all hold on to them for various reasons.  And we all struggle to scrapbook them.  Poor photos.  Or in my case, just plain bad photos (not misbehaved---although I may have a few of those too!). 

The photos I used in this layout are old film-based photos.  Sometimes you can scan the photos into your computer and muck about with the colors  and sharpness and such, but you know what.  I just didn't want to spend that kind of time.  (I've said it before--I am a lazy scrapper!)  Plus, these were not photos of a significant event or of a great uncle Harold who no one seems to have photos of (whoever great uncle Harold is--I just figure we all have someone in the family that no one has photos of).  They are just photos I want to keep. 

To somewhat combat the poor quality of two of the pictures, I arranged the one "better" one over the top of the  other two and matted only that one (in a buttery yellow to queue in on the yellow jacket).  The two poor-er (is that even a word?) photos kind of fade to the background and become supporting photos.  It's ok, not great.  But it gets the photos on the page. 

Looking at the layout now, I kind of wish I had matted the whole layout on a navy piece of cardstock, not brown.  I used non-competing background patterns---a piece of autumn leaves patterned paper, a bit of navy print (to pick up on the jeans), an off-white notebook-y paper.  Added a couple of stamped embellishments (in navy), a coppery leaf die cut that was lying about on my desk, a couple of wood veneers (the camera and the love pieces), the yellow "Life" layered embellishment (that one is from Amy Tangerine--a pack I picked up at Tuesday Morning for a whopping $.99).   Tucked in a couple of tags and did my journaling on a speech bubble sticker.  But I needed another navy blue element to complete the visual triangle---and I just like things in threes.  So I added the finger with a string sticker (Heidi Swapp). 

The coppery leaf didn't have any detail to it, looked a little blah, so I used my stylus to outline and put in the veins and then traced over the de-bossed lines with a black pen. 

Alphas are from Thickers (another Tuesday Morning steal).  They are kind of a strange peachy beige color with not glitter on them, but more like mica pieces. 

And there it is, my not so hot photos, scrapped.  We may re-visit this whole topic of scrapping bad (or misbehaved) photos again...I have more!!

Scrapping on...
Cheryl

Water Water Everywhere

Took another stab at a watercolor background.  I sure do enjoy sloshing the paint around, but I must be a bit of a control freak because I tend to want to put the paint where I want it, but I'm pretty sure that control is not supposed to play a big part in this technique...

I just used  American Crafts white cardstock instead of watercolor paper this time.   Tried out the watercolor on acetate technique. 

Step One.  Mix up some watercolor on a piece of acetate (in my case I used an old Thickers wrapper)

Step Two.  Turn acetate over directly onto to the cardstock

Step Three.  Smoosh paint around a bit. 

Repeat...

Layered the photo on top of several pieces of plain white tissue paper, then a few pieces of patterned paper and a piece of vellum with gold metallic hearts.  (I found a partial sheet of this vellum cleaning out the closet---must have had this for years!  So what was old, is new again!)  Cut out a few of the gold hearts and then used some more gold chipboard hearts from that Heidi Swapp Project Life kit I picked up a few weeks ago and just a couple of stickers.  Really wanted to keep the page light and airy so didn't add much more.  Alphas are gold metallic Thickers---love this font and have bought them in gold, red and silver metallic, plus a black and a teal set. 

psssssst.  It's the weekend....
Happy weekend! 
Cheryl 

 

The Why's and How's of One Photo and One Page Layouts

I was talking with a friend the other day about why I have so many one-photo pages and many more one page layouts.  When I started scrapbooking years ago, it was for me.  But as time went on, the albums became for my adult children, then for my oldest grandson for graduation, and yes still for me.  So now when I view a stack of photos--I kind of mentally plot out--- this page about Jackson will eventually go into his album(s).  The page I did about Bella and frosting ( "Frosting!") will go into her album(s) and the photos I have of them both with frosting in hand (and in mouth and on face, etc.) will stay with me. 

Gotta give a little equal love to my youngest grandie, Jackson.  Just like his sister, Jackson has decided that frosting is a very good thing! 

Used some old Basic Grey Life of the Party papers, as well as some ephemera from Jillibean Soup, Maggie Holmes, and a couple of tab stickers from Simple Stories SNAP!.  The alphas used in the title are super old Heidi Swapp (yeah--I still have several packs of these...loved them then, love them now.  I'll be sad when they are gone.)  I punched a little star or two or three, and used some of my homemade enamel dots.  That's about it.  This page went together much more quickly than did Bella's frosting page---mainly because I had been hunting about trying to find just the right color and size alpha for the title on that page. 

 Best!
Cheryl

Snow.  It's a four letter word... for a reason.    And guess what was blowing about the other morning when I woke up at the ungodly hour of 4:00 a.m.  It didn't last or accumulate, but there it was. 

So with the cold beginning to set in, I found these photos of Miss Isabella taken at last year's homecoming game.  (The story... very small town, no baby sitters available--because, duh, it's homecoming... so daughter of mine hurries home, hurries the kids through dinner, potty, and re-bundles them up to bring them to the big game...never thinking to check feet for socks~!  After all, you send them to daycare with socks on...pretty much thinking they will come home that way...) 

So we notice midway through the game when Bella is sitting on my lap, that she has no socks on.  And it was c.o.l.d. 

I used a piece of paper for the background that came in a pack of Lucky Charm paper from Dear Lizzy.  It happened to be one of those designs that I kind of shook my head thinking I might have to just ignore the design and use it for the pale pink color.  But it happens that it worked out really well for this page!  I used some water colors for the purple and hot pink background to coordinate a bit with Bella's coat.  And the title took care of itself; used a Thickers set in purple that I never thought I'd be able to use up!  But I ended up having to piece a few of the "e"s together because I ran out, so I'm thinking I've pretty well exhausted this set! 

Photos are matted on vellum and a purple and white polka dot paper that had no branding on it whatsoever; I've had it for years.  Glad to finally use it!  Rub on leaves were from Basic Grey, added a purple felt flower and dark maroon button, the Just Believe tag from Heidi Swapp, a couple of strips of another pink dotted paper and a branding strip from the Lucky Charm collection, some bits of washi tape and some pink and purple sequins and called it done.  

Happy Saturday everyone! 
Cheryl

Two posts in one day?!  And the occasion?  Just cuz I did this layout one evening this past week and I just love it and had to post it.   (Usually I do up several layouts and then photograph 5 or 6 of them at one time...trying to have a backlog of layouts ready to post for when I don't have access to scrapping materials.)  But, I love this one so much...could. not. wait.  

Now I don't know if it's the layout I love so much, or if it's the photo... Jacob absolutely hates this series of photos.  Had them done with one of the photographers that brings a slew of old timey clothes and props and then prints them in sepia, and sometimes uses some hand coloring to tint sections of the photos.  He just hates these pictures.  But, sorry, kiddo, Nana loves them and they're gettin' scrapped! 

I was watching a video the other day and watched this gal take scraps of paper and a pile of embellishment ephemera and put a few together, then she stapled the packet.  She did several of these packets and then just slid them in and around her photo and plunked the whole thing down on a 12x12 paper, titled it and boom, was done.  Now my take on this did not go quite as quickly, since I am old school and always start with the photo and slide things in and under till I am happy, then I try and take great care to not alter the stacks while I glue everything into place.  But I have to say, even though I did not do this as quickly as I saw it done in the video, it did come together pretty darn fast (for me anyway). 

I used a couple of ephemera packs from Crate Paper (Maggie Holmes Party Day and DIY I think), an embellishment pack from Amy Tangerine (the stitched heart, "favorite," and the layered "best" sticker), and a piece from Crate Paper Close Knit stitched embellishments.  I also added some paint splatters, a wood veneer piece, and a few of my homemade enamel dots.   

Something I've noticed is that I am doing a lot of white cardstock backgrounds.  I like, never, I mean n.e.v.e.r. used plain white backgrounds a few years ago.  Everything was patterned paper and I would use a colored piece of cardstock as a base.  But I am really liking the white backgrounds more and more (still loving my pattern paper---just using it differently now). 

So today, I find myself in need of more white cardstock... oh darn that means a trip to Hobby Lobby I guess... gee that's a real shame... not. 

Now I am off and running... 
Cheryl
  

Hello Saturday!  Hello Weekend! 

Hello paper and photos! 

Today I am posting a layout and blabbering about cutting up pretty paper.  I know, we cut up our pretty paper all the time, but I mean really slicing and dicing it up. 

I cut out the teeny little triangles, cut out the chevrons, cut slivers of the heart paper, cut slices off a 6x6 piece, cut the branding strips, and even cut the banner sticker.   Just basically chopped and sliced and cut up everything I used.  And then, reassembled it.  Stacked the chevrons, using just the colors I wanted.  Stacked the branding strip pieces up in a slightly crooked fashion.  Sprinkled on the tiny triangles.  Slid the cut pieces of the 6x6 piece under the matted photo and one piece up under the stacked branding strips.  And then arranged what was left at the top and bottom of the page.  Oh, yeah, I also decided to highlight the use of the little triangles by saving one to use as a template to outline a few times.   (I am telling you now that outlining a teeny tiny triangle is not as easy as I had anticipated...) 

Once all the slivers, slices, cut up triangles and chevrons (some of the chevrons are on pop dots) were in place, I added the striped banner (cut into two pieces of course) and just a couple of stickers--the #2 circle sticker, the yellow ampersand and the chipboard heart at the top of the page and the little tabs clustered at the top of the photo.  Alpha is an ancient Thickers set, the old vinyl ones in this bright school bus yellow that I just loved. 

All this slicing and dicing---and the occasion?  Just a trip to Costco! 

Best!
Cheryl

So, no prom layout today (not to worry, I do have several more...like I would really only do two layouts of our boy on prom court--she says with a nana smirk--he doesn't get off that easy). 

But I do have a page I did specifically for Jacob and his cousin Samantha.  Samantha is my niece, my sister's daughter.  Technically that makes she and Jacob, what--second cousins, I think.  They were born only months apart and they have always been like two peas in a pod. They have an uncanny ability to pick up right where they left off, no matter how long the time in between visits. 

I cut apart a bunch of tickets and little tabs from a Maggie Holmes paper (out of the $5 bargain pack---really getting some mileage out of that one!!!).  I also used up some stickers that were left on an old Crate paper sticker sheet (Emma's Closet was the line).  Then it was just snippets and strips left from other projects that were lying about on my desk, a doily, a little washi tape, and some pretty pastel buttons.  Cut the giant ampersand out with my Cricket and used one of my favorite Thickers alphas (just love these--they're foam and tall and skinny.  Per-Fect!)  Background paper is the B side of an Authentique paper -- white, but distressed--love that. 

This came together fairly quick and it is one of my favorite layouts.  I did a different take on this photo for my album(s), since this page went into Jacob's album.  But I may have to take that one apart and try to recreate this one, I like it so much better.  (yeah, that's what I need to do---a b-jillion other photos that need to be scrapped and yes, let's take apart a layout that is done and do it again... I'm such a dork.) 

Cheryl

It's fall and all, but I think I better get these prom pages posted --- before the boy graduates from college.  Har--dee-har-har. 

Jacob was on prom court and the boys all went for tuxes together.  They picked out fairly traditional suits...except for their vests.  The vests were, um.... camo print.  Yep, camouflage print tuxedo vests.  They were then trying to talk the girls into wearing work boots -- yeah, not happening. 

What actually took the longest to do on this page was the title, getting it all lined up, nice and straight.    I didn't want a lot going on in the way of background, so I only used a small print to mat the three photos.  And then started arranging strips of washi tape horizontally as a base to lay the matted photos on.  Sticking with a monochromatic black, grey and white helped tone down the busy feeling that having so many people in a photo can create. 

The boys were really pretty good about getting their pictures taken, they posed again and again and were having a good time hamming it up for the camera(s).  And, yes, that would be my grandson in the middle photo being held up by his comrades in tuxes.  

It's Thursday already and I am looking forward to spending time with the little grandies this weekend.  We'll bake, maybe break out the watercolors, and there might be pumpkins involved. 

Happy Fall, Ya'all.
Cheryl

Oh boy, today is Sunday.  DH is gone all day, no showings, the only couple of things I have to do outside the house today is drop off some goodies at a friend's, pick up some photos at Walgreens, and get dog food.  And the rest of the day is mine, all mine...gonna spend it up in my little room, scrapping away! 

But before I get going, I thought I'd post a layout. 

Bella and Jackson (and Nana) spend loads of time with the Thomas the Tank train tracks, getting it all set so multiple trains can run at one time...So much fun to see the two of them so engaged (and kind of playing together...) 

Papers are from a little 6x6 Simple Stories pad I picked up on clearance at Hobby Lobby.  It was falling apart, held together with a rubber band, but the price was right so I didn't care if it was missing a sheet or two.  Even the phrases and the little arrows were cut from sheets in the pad.  The star stickers and the camera sticker are Recollections also purchased on clearance.  The alphas are from a Webster's Pages sheet (one of those that had multiple colors and sets of alphas on one sheet---loved those!).  The diagonal black strip at the top and bottom of the page are from Crate Paper, the DIY collection pad I picked up on clearance a month or so ago).  And the enamel dots---homemade! 

Best!
Cheryl

Making up for lost time I guess, because here I am again with another post and another page! 

Today, a bit of a break from all of the graduation album pages... 

This one is Jackson and Bella from Halloween last year.  I had to dig for Halloween papers...just don't have a lot of them.  So this was made up of scraps I had from a years old K & Co. Halloween collection. 

Did a little stamping for the background, some fussy cutting (the bats and the jack o' lanterns) and added some dippy dots of black stickles.  I did also use some green and purple cardstock strips, and added two different dot patterns.  I'm thinking that the orangey dot is the backside of a WeRMemory Keepers paper and the other dot pattern is Basic Grey.   The title is a Thickers alpha set, and I added some white pen work in the way of outlining and dots (to mimic the dots in the jack o' lanterns' mouths). 

This year Mr. Jackson has chosen a dinosaur ensemble and we don't know what Miss Isabella will be yet (although I expect a liberal dose of glitter in whatever she chooses...). 

Happy October!
Cheryl

P.S.  It was indeed the starter on the car--and I, tonight, am doing little to nothing this evening.  Ahhhhh, today life is good. 

Just when you think you are free and clear, with critical matters handled... the car decides to break down.  Had another house showing late this afternoon, made it home from work with enough time to change out of work garb, grab the dogs and leashes, then was going to move my car to the street, when.... it wouldn't start.  Wouldn't take a jump...but electrical stuff works.  DH thinks its the starter.  Now I know this is not a huge thing, in the grander scheme of things.  But I truly just want to be able to come home from work and, I don't know...do nothing?  But onward we go.  Because, what else can we do? 

Onward... 

Today's layout is, once again, one that I did for Jacob's grad album.  I did a similar one of his high school photos, but this page went into album #1 (he actually received two albums from me--one was his younger years and the second one was all high school stuff). 

I wanted a representation of him as a baby, but not a bunch of baby photos.  So again used a grid type arrangement and wallet size photos like I did with his high school pics.   Papers were from Lily Bee (I think--it's that piece of aqua floral behind the photos), Maggie Holmes (from my $5 bargain pack) and a piece of...I truly have no idea where it came from...hahaha---I really haven't a clue--gotta start writing this stuff down--now there's a novel thought. 

The numbers are wood veneer pieces I bought at Michael's--actually bought a couple of packs because numbers are kind of hard to come by.  The month and days after the numbers are Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type.   The layered banner is Heidi Swapp, although I added the "love you" with October Afternoon and Cosmo Cricket alpha stickers.  Then did a little outlining and my journaling and left well enough alone. 

And here we go, onward, right?
Best!
Cheryl

woo, hoo!  Back in the saddle again...I'm back in the saddle again... 

My cold hopefully is nearing its end.  A real bugger, this one was.  I'm at least not going though a half a box of tissues every day.  And I got my little ole' laptop back today!  Plus, we had a home showing last week and an open house today and have another showing tomorrow afternoon.  And.... all the deep cleaning is done, the purging, and staging has been done and all I should have to do from here on out is stay in maintenance mode.  Thank goodness. 

So here is a layout to celebrate! 

Another homecoming page done for Mr. Jacob's graduation album. 

Papers are from Basic Grey, the  Plumeria collection.  The colors were good with Jacob's plum colored dress shirt, but I didn't want so many flowers...  To downplay the florals printed in the corners, I dry-brushed a bit of white craft paint across them and then added a few strips of coordinating papers with torn edges.  Matted the photos in one of those same prints, roughed up the edges of that paper and then laid this atop a base of irregularly cut rectangles and squares, also with roughed up and curled edges.  Cut a couple of banners and tucked those in, did my journaling with white4 pen around the photos.  The title (not too original, I'm afraid) was from the Plumeria alpha set  that came with the collection pack. 

This was the collection of papers that I had pieces laying about on my desk that ended up on the layout that was posted last Sunday. 

And even though his mom re-cut his hair (to get rid of that stripe cut down the center of his head for game night), you can still see where it was shaved down the middle---hence the red baseball hat in the first photo and that big cheesy grin with a thumbs up (gosh I love this kid, can you tell?).  Also gotta love the background of the teen room complete with  pile of clothes leaking out into the doorway...

So glad to be blogging again. 

Happy Sunday all. 
Cheryl

I didn't disappear...I've been under the weather and so, it appears,  has my laptop.  I left the poor infected baby with my daughter this past week who has been doing her best to rid it of a particularly stubborn malware.   Hopefully we'll have this situation licked soon. 

In the meantime, I thought I better use this small window of opportunity to get a layout posted... 

Another page of my eldest grandson's graduation album here.  Jacob and Jessica at the Powder Puff football game last year at homecoming.

I used some snips and left over pieces from the page I did of him ready to go to the dance (um, yeah I don't scrap in chronological order so... just happened to have the pieces laying about on my desk.)  Also used another piece of denim printed paper from Authentique, and several cuts from Basic Grey's Clippings line.  Added two wood veneer words (from Studio Calico), and a couple of stickers from the Clippings kit, a staple here and there and the title (which was also the alpha from the clippings kit).  The last thing I did was add the penwork  around the photo and paper layers and the journaling.

Even with his goofy buzz cut, he was still a pretty darn good lookin' kid (not that Nana is biased at all...)!    

ok, back to the Packer game, now...
Cheryl