March Madness

My March Madness has been creating alot of layouts for the Feeling Scrappy Sketch Class. Now that it's over I can share some of the layouts. It was alot of fun and right up my alley. I highly recommend checking out a class. It's a great way to get alot of layouts done, meet some new people and try some new techniques.

The next class, EMBELLISH IT! starts May 6. This four week technique course is designed to teach and challenge you to use all sorts of embellishments on your layouts! If you are looking to add that extra punch to your layouts then Embellish It! is the class that will get you there. We will be working with all kinds of common and not so common embellishments giving them all a twist to help you create one of a kind scrapbook pages.

I won't post all the layouts here but these are my favorites.

Scrapbook Survivor Style

In addition to all the fun stuff going on over at Feeling Scrappy.com (Come check out the March challenges- it isn't too late!!) I am participating the Scrap4Life Design Team (DT) search. It began on March 3rd and we are in the final week. Each week there was a different challenge. Then the powers that be eliminate a certain number of people each week. I'm happy to have made the final 10. Three will make the DT. The talent here is outstanding! Win or lose it was an awesome experience. It made me think outside the box.

Week One focused on sparkle and bling. I used my circle cutter throughout and then added all kinds of sparkle. I had so much fun with the different medium- chipboard, stickers, paper, rhinestones, ghost letters. Layout at Scrap4Life

Week Two Challenge was Transparency. I took Transparent mean both clear and 'see through' so I used my eyelet setter to create some see-through holes around the circles. I sewed translucent beads around the circles in several places. I tried to make some shaker boxes to put the beads in but after an hour of trying and some cursing I threw in the towel. I used various circle cutters, punches and die cutters for the circles. I painted in two different colors behind the title, journaling circle and text. I used PhotoShop to wrap the text in a circle shape then added paper in the middle for definition. On the 'B' I did a little handstitching in pink for punch. Layout at Scrap4Life

Week Three the challenge was to make a handmade/homemade embellishment as well as using 4-5 photos with a combination of black & white and color. I had so much fun with this one. I've been wanting to use soda pop tabs as an embellishment for awhile so I gave it a whirl. I was trying to be 'Green' since that's so popular now. I adhered each one with a brad and then stitched the petals together with floss to add a little punch of color. And as luck would have it- I had the pink Jolee's flowers with the silver center in my stash. The silver compliments the metal perfectly! I handstiched around the scallops for dimension. I also handstitched the stems and leaves. I also painted the chipboard letters for the title. Doodled on the yellow flowers and around the color photo. Layout at Scrap4Life





This weeks challenge focuses on the colors of the rainbow and journaling. Better put my thinking cap on!

A personal thank you to Nick and Carla for being my sounding board and cheerleaders the last month. Not being able to show these to my other scrappy friend (LOVE YOU GUYS!! FeelingScrappy , DezineGirlz and WIScrappers) has been really hard!

Hop Hop Hop

Will return with a proper Easter post. But for now enjoy this video of Bennet after she met the Easter Bunny.

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

All About Me

As you know I'm a rabid scrapbooker. But up until recently I rarely scrapbooked about myself. I've always meant to do a Book of Me. Something that my children could look at when I'm gone and learn about their mom. Heck- even their grandma.

I always put this project on the back burner. But thanks to the fabulous ladies over at Feeling Scrappy I got my first page done. The challenge was based on the movie "The Bucket List" in which two terminally ill men escape from a cancer ward and head off on a road trip with a wish list of to-dos before they die. Make a scrapbook page listing the top 10 things you'd like to do in your lifetime.

Here it is:

My List:

1. Retire up north

2. R/V trip as a family

3. Own 1st Edition TKAM (To Kill a Mockingbird)

4. Christmas in NYC

5. Teach my kids manners

6. Visit Italy

7. See all AFI Top 100 Movies

8. Get Published

9. Take Dancing Lessons

10. Learn patience

Happy 1/2 Birthday Nick (St. Patty's Day too!)

Nick's birthday is July 16th (Mark your calendars now!) But when he was little he never got to bring treats to school due to his summer birthday. Tragic! So, his very clever mom had him pick a day. Being a Sweeney he chose St. Patrick's Day. Every year we make cupcakes to celebrate.

HAPPY 1/2 BIRTHDAY and HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

Bennet liked helping. On several occasions I caught her sneaking batter or frosting.

The best part- licking the spatula.

So intense!

Cute St. Patty's Day pajamas from G & G T! Thanks guys!

Grandma S came over to join in the fun. She never would miss it.

The finished product

Scout would rather chew the hat than wear it.

My quest for a perfect family photo continues.

For comparison- here is the blog post from last year.

Big Girl Bed

Bennet is like her mom. She likes to sleep ;) We weren't in any hurry to move her to a toddler bed or regular bed. She's been getting out of the crib on her own for a couple months now. But only when I go into her room in the morning and she knows someone is watching. Last week she snuck up behind me in the kitchen after getting out on her own and we knew it was time.

Today we converted her crib to a toddler bed. The before: She had to help Dad with the screws.

We were nervous on what she would think of it. She LOVES it. For the next couple hours she would sneak away to her room, shut the door and sit in it. At one point I caught her reading books to her kitties. Tonight we sat reading some books in the living room. I saw her rub her eyes so I asked, "Do you want to go to bed?" She jumped off the couch, grabbed her kitty, gave Dad and Scout hugs and kisses and bolted to her room and literally jumped into bed. I think she likes it.

It's a miracle! I can see sidewalk

Last Thursday morning you probably heard my sobbing. We had 4 more inches of snow. Now I love winter. I do- but come March I'm over it. By March snow has lost it's magical, 'oh how pretty' look. Well- fast forward to 5 p.m. and it was all melted. And in the 40's!! Woo hoo! What a difference 12 hours makes.

Nick bought this babushka snowsuit when we were pregnant with Bennet. She never fit in it since it's huge. First time parents picking the wrong size. But. . . it fits Scout perfectly. Now I know I'm biased- but she is so darn cute stuck in the snow. I picked Bennet up from daycare and she was splashing in puddles and throwing snowballs. So we continued the fun when we got home. She would take her bare hands, make a snowball and chase me down the sidewalk. And she has this little devilish laugh too.

New Layouts

I have been in a scrapping craze the last couple of weeks. When Nick was out of town I had to keep myself busy. Otherwise I would have missed him or something ;)

I've been doing alot of layouts for the sketch class over at Feeling Scrappy. I will be sure to post them when the class is over. We are hard at work putting together the next class. It starts May 6th and is all about embellishments!! Buttons, brads, flowers, eyelets, ribbon, chipboard- you name it!

Here are some other layouts that were just for fun. It seems that at the beginning of every year I force myself to use as much existing product from my stash that I can. This Crate Paper is a couple years old so I finally used it.

Winter Weekend

We still have plenty of snow but this weekend it was sunny and bright outside. During Scout's nap we ventured outside for some fun. Bennet really missed Nick when he was gone last week, so she just soaked up the attention. We started in the backyard for some driving and slide time.
I simply love this photo of Bennet. It just encapsulates her personality perfectly! Smiling and looking for adventure.
I started to shovel a snow fort and when my muscles gave out Nick finished it off. He's good at digging himself into holes :)

Look out! It's a Yetti! Nah- just Dad.

Isn't it amazing what you can do with a tripod and self timer? This photo is happiness to me.

It's in the Genes

Like Father like Daughter I guess. Apparently my dad and I share the same sense of humor. Or just like putting things on our heads.

Here is a photo of me with a baby Bumbo seat on my head from July 2006.

And here is Grandpa Mike with a different one on his head a couple of weeks ago. Coincidence? Maybe. Do we both need to get out more? Probably! :)

Happy 1/2 Birthday!

I say it every month- but this time it's really true. Where did the time go? Scout is 6 months old today. This time last year I was battling morning sickness 24/7 and this year I'm in love with this girl 24/7.

She has brought so much happiness to our lives. We are all simply smitten with her. Bennet has really started to enjoy her in the last month. I think it's because Scout lights up whenever B plays with her. Bennet still likes to point to her nose and say "shhh Scout" when she's sleeping.

Nick has perfected the ability to get her to laugh on command. Not even a dainty giggle, but a hearty, throaty laugh. It's contagious!

Scout continues to be a happy and content baby. As Grandma S said yesterday, "This baby is just fabulous!" I couldn't agree more. I'm happy to see she has retained her blue eyes. The one and only thing that came from my side of the family (even though I have green eyes I'll take what I can get)

I see alot of Bennet-like features in her but she also looks alot like Grandpa S did as a baby. We are enjoying watching her reach those milestones and seeing her personality grow.

We love you Scout. And can't begin to describe what joy you've brought to our family. Happy Half Birthday Scizout!

2 is Tough

Being two is tough. Bennet fell asleep at lunch the other day. She actually started snoring. Can't hear it too well b/c I took the video with my digital.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

After I got back from my appointment in MN a couple weeks ago I found this. If I didn't know any better I would have thought is was my old man. The hand in the top of the pants is classic. And the arms above their heads in unison- priceless.


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Published Layouts

I had a couple layouts published in ScrapStreet.com's ezine this month. Pretty exciting!! Check it out!

On the Run
Page 22

http://www.scrapstreet.com/mag08/08march08/fixtures/square.htm

Beyond
Page 13

http://www.scrapstreet.com/mag08/08march08/features/baby2.htm