Fun Times with Embossing

Can you tell I'm thinking about springtime? :) This week's embossing challenge at Practical Scrappers forced me to try out the new Cuttlebug. I know I shouldn't need my arm twisted, but I've not had much mojo lately. Plus, as I sat down, I realized I only have one folder. :p Luckily I have talented girlfriends who have plenty (thanks, Les!), so after my hubby came home with them I got to work. I had a good time with it - threw some stickles on there too - and finished just in time. And check out those clearance rack ribbons that I just busted open.

I think the mojo is back. Yay!

Laugh

For the Bling challenge at Practical Scrappers - my January for this year's calendar. I'm hoping each month can feature a goal, sort of a resolution idea, for us to focus on. In January hopefully we will do a lot of laughing. Down at the bottom of the month I have this:

"Be joyful always; pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Jesus Christ."

I Thessalonians 5:16-18

Buttons on Practical Scrappers!

This is a really busy page, but Clare was pretty busy when it came to her buttons. :) Family and friends know how this obsession went, and it was quite amusing. I was so glad I got these pictures b/c it was a no-brainer that I wanted to scrap this phase.

I scattered the buttons and pretty much adhered them where they fell. The ribbon looks better in person and it's some vintage ribbon I probably spent too much money on but that I fell in love with. I used my new cartridge Cuttin Up for the title - a cart that I have really enjoyed. I said I wanted some carts for Christmas but hadn't really picked one out. My SIL did a great job finding one.

If you don't want to read the tiny journaling, let me just explain that "Perseverating" was the word my mom pulled out (she has a vocabulary addiction) to describe what Clare was doing one day as we watched her pile them into one container and then another. It would keep her busy for amazing periods of time - one evening I swear she did it for an hour. I loved it and kind of miss them. She was mad that I used a bunch of them on the layout. She hasn't played with them for a while, but I think it's because we lost most of them eventually. :)

I told her I'd buy her some more. (Or steal some from Mimi (my mom) who also has fabric and button addictions. :)

Celebrating U

Dad called this morning and asked if I could make a birthday card for G'ma H. I welcomed the idea, and quickly found these papers that I love and have sortof been waiting for the perfect project.

You can maybe relate, though, as the project seemed to break down half way thru. I don't know if I was being too hard on myself or if that ribbon works or not, but there was a lot of moving pieces and blank staring. :)

It happens, right?

Anyway, in the end, we have a card, and I think it does the job. It was a good brain exercise for me. Plus, she'll know how much love is in it. ;)

Bundle up!

This is an older layout, but who can pass up the opportunity to share pics of their baby girl?! This is actually 1 of a 2 page layout. I used 1 sheet of winter paper and cut it apart to make it last 2 layouts. The result is basic, but works, and allows the pictures to be the main focus, but the winter theme comes thru strong.

It's snowy outside (here)! Scrap some cozy pics!

Big Project

The lack of recent scrapping posts indicates I've been swamped with something.. and here it is! A good (great, really) friend of mine asked me to do her kid's baby books - a first year book for each of them. That was towards the beginning of November and the goal was to get the first one done in time for Christmas. Well, I didn't quite make it (there are a lot of pictures for a first year!! :), but I did take her a decent sized book of 33 pages and she seemed pleased. Which of course was thrilling for me.

We all know how many pictures there can be of our first baby's first year. So there was plenty of picking and choosing that had to be done before we began, and we've decided we'll go for around 50 pages. I'm thrilled with this decision, because there are so many great pictures, it could easily go on 100. I'm sure some of you who scrap ALL your kid's pictures have book upon book like this. But doing a commission book requires some limits, right? So I'm learning a lot about these limits and how this works.

Here are some of the pages. Yay!!

(You may notice some blank areas... there are some spots open for journaling for the fabulous mommy to add her 2cents! :)

Sophia's Invites

Sophia made her birthday invitations today, and I thought I should share since she has been featured on here before. :)

She turns 6 next week and is having a few friends over for a little party after school that day. The party has a loose theme of Taylor Swift, horses, and being a girl. :) It should be fun. As usual, she was in charge of the design. I had picked up some materials I thought she would like, and she took it from there. I'm always impressed with her ideas. I know I'm biased. It doesn't matter. Either way, I'm so glad we get to work together on something we both enjoy!