It's Waining Momma

and other such memories of a baby boy who is now a man.  He will be leaving us soon to go off to college and to a new life on his own.  Although we feel a tremendous amount of pride in his courage and his accomplishments, his leaving is so bittersweet.  All I can seem to think about these days is how sugary sweet it has been to have him at home with us all these years.  He is a great kid.  Fantastic even.  

Case in point.  He still picks flowers for me.  Not all the time like he did when he was little, but enough for me to still be so appreciative of the fact that he remembers me when he sees pretty flowers.  Oh some woman is going to be so lucky:).....

He is also quite the collector.  I was in his room talking to him about something and just happened to glance at his shelves (his room sends my very neat self into a bit of a panic so I try not to look around most of the time!).  What I noticed was how he loves to collect things.  Junk to most but to him interesting enough to hold on to for a life time.  Especially rocks.  Oh the number of rocks.  I see our travels in his collections along with the things he really loves.  Like the beads around the dinosaurs neck that were from our trip to New Orleans...

I am so going to miss having him around!

I love this page about how much I love books....

And this photo of my BIL and my niece before the father/daughter dance.  She told me later that she had the best time.  Awwww.......

Thanks for stopping by, have a happy humpday😍

Renovations and Such

Renovations to get ready for a busy visiting and traveling season.  We hope to host 20 or so family members for Christmas this year!  At the moment my house is a disaster zone.  I can't get comfortable because nothing is where it is supposed to be.  Boxes and boxes of stuff to give away, put away or throw away ='s a mess that I'm having a tough time living with.  

Thankfully, the projects that we are working on (aka my husband:)) will be the last major projects for awhile.  They will also make hosting big family get-togethers so much more comfortable for everyone.  I can't wait to share the results but in the meantime, here is a glimpse of what we are dealing with......

Pray for us!

And a few pages to share.  They were all so, so fun to make.....

Especially this Disney one!  I love all of the monsters dancing in the background!!....

(Big Picture Classes - Nancy Damiano - Detailed)

These kids are not kids anymore:)  My baby sisters and brother are now in their 30's and early 40's.  I ran across this photo and the memory of this day came back so clear.  My grandmother made the dresses that my sisters are wearing.  My sister always had juice rings around her mouth 😍.  My brother rocking a Hawaiian shirt and suspenders:).  The three of them so, so cute.....

(Nerolisky - Love her banners!  This page from my pinterest board)

Terrible photo but a fantastic photo at the same time.  That smile:)......

(Big Picture Classes - Jen Gallacher - Product Playground - Chipboard & Brads)

We LOVE visiting Niagara Falls.  We are always so filled with awe by the sheer size and power of this place....

Thanks for stopping by!!

Wine In The Woods 2017

was fun, boozy, loud and relaxing lol.  It was me & the hubby's first time but I doubt it will be the last.  We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves:)  I even managed to snap a few photos on my phone to scrap later.  

and I saw a youtube trailer of the NEW! Star Trek saga that will begin this fall.....

and today we decided that it is going to be a lazy day sitting around watching movies/tv/netflix and napping.  Lots of napping.  

As you can see an all round fantastic weekend!  I shall end this post with a few pages:)  Thanks for stopping by!  Most of the layouts I did on iNSD for challenges that I never entered.  I really did much better last year with the challenge thing.  

It is a record for me to get a photo scrapped this soon.  The picture is from my son's graduation photo shoot LAST WEEK....

I love this photo of these 2!  This is one of the Disney pictures that I can't get enough of.....

A page from BPC Paige's Pages 2......

A favorite page for some favorite photos.  And I used new photos with new supplies.  Go figure.....

Journaling Fail. Big Time.

I like journaling about as much as I like printing photos.  Not much at all.  The fun part of this for me is creating the pages.  The work is printing and journaling.  Most of the time it comes so hard.  When I look at my pages, the memories are always there even if the details (dates & places) aren't.  I've had so many pages to put away that I just kind of gave up on the journaling and fell back to putting the names and what I hope is the date on each page before I put them away.  

How do you handle journaling for your pages?  Do you always journal?  Is it a big deal for you?  I'm just curious as to how other scrappers manage/feel about the words that they put on their pages.  Don't get me wrong, sometimes a story is what my page is all about and the page isn't complete without having the words written on it.  Most times for me the photo is the story and the title is my journaling.  

Anywho.  These are just my thoughts on a beautiful Friday.  We will be going to Wine in the Woods tomorrow and can I just say that I am excited about it?! 😍

Another thing that is exciting me right now is the new color on my front door.  Oh my is it pretty.  So, so pretty:)  I'm also loving the pots that I put together this year.  It is a complete accident that my pots match my front door.  We've had these pots for a few years now.  The page that I made for this came out so, so pretty.....

And on top of that, I've really been digging into my Hip Kits and new products.  The system that I started at the end of last year is a keeper!  This page about my oldest & my youngest.  I adore them both:)  She was home visiting and got one of his rare hugs.  They still fight (the typical brother sister bickering) when they are together if you can believe that so it's nice to see them loving on each other.  I used products from my latest scrapbook.com order.  Yay me....

I used my March 2017 Hip Kit for this page.  I loved the paper by Paige Evans!  I used my Cameo to cut a heart from the center of each square, sewed around each block with my machine than added in some of the embellishments from the kit.  The dark green cs was from my stash and is a color that I never thought I would use.  The photo is my girl again.  This was before she cut all of her hair off.  She's not lazy like her momma and has no problems with doing her hair everyday.  I would have a real problem if I couldn't throw it into a ponytail or bun lol.  Anyway I just love this photo of her....

I used the same Kit and a lesson from Jen Chapin's Big Picture Class "Rainbow".  The lesson was for pocket pages which I don't do so I just did my own thing here.  This photo is not a favorite but it tells a story of how close me and the little man were when he was little.  If he found me napping somewhere, he would climb up and play/read/watch tv while I slept.  It usually ended with him falling asleep too:)  My husband snapped this shot of us.....

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!!

Graduation Photo Shoot

I know that I've mentioned a few hundred times that my youngest is going to be going off to college soon.  Sigh.  Time has just gone way to fast!  

He has been homeschooled since 6th grade so has not had any school photos since elementary.  Because of this I decided to do a graduation photo shoot and to throw him a surprise graduation party.  Although I suspect he knows about the party:)  He's observant that one and I am no bueno when it comes to keeping a secret;)  

The photos are amazing!!!  My husband did the shoot and omgoodness did he get some great shots.....

We had a great day!  And it did take us all day long lol.  We are starting a new home improvement project so I'll have even less creative time than I do now that our travel season has kicked off.  Hopefully I can do 1 to 2 pages/projects a day.  My little guy (the one above 😎) gave me a watercolor kit for Mother's Day so that I can get started on the landscape that's been on my wish list for the last few years.  No more excuses.

I do have some layouts to share today.  4 seems to be my magic number so 4 it is.  This first one features a photo that my daughter took in Central Park of one of the performers.  She danced beautifully and her partner played his violin so, so pretty for her.  They were amazing to watch.....

Another NYC shot.  As a matter of fact, ALL of the photos on the pages I'm sharing today are from NYC and most were taken by my daughter:)  My sister took the kids to NYC on vacation one year and they got a great selfie in front of lady liberty.....

My daughter attended TeenVogue one year......

And lastly a few more shots of this little guy enjoying the bubble man in Central Park.  These are some of my favorite photos of him and the page was very fun to make.  The gold stars were made with Bo Bunny Glitter Paste and a stencil....

So it's Monday again and I hope that you are having a great one.  Thanks for stopping by to visit me!

Scrapbook Classes and Inspiration

I know that I talk about this all the time.  It seems to have become a favorite subject and one that I think about all the time.   When I first made the decision to take more classes and to put the inspiration/ideas that had been collecting dust in my home to use it was difficult to let myself be okay with sharing projects that were not my original idea.  It didn't take long for me to just get over myself and get on with it already.  Since than, I've made a ton of pages & projects.  A ton.  

It also didn't take me long to realize that the fact that I used someone else's starting point didn't mean that the end result wasn't me or mine.  For instance, this page was completed as part of the Fabulous Nancy Damiano's "Detailed" class at Big Picture Classes.  If you put the 2 pages side by side, you would never know that they had the exact same starting point.  Nancy.  The page was perfect for this little cutie doing a cute hand heart:)

For my next 2 pages, the inspiration is more visible as I was in love with a specific element (the hearts) and wanted to use exactly that element.  I pinned this page made by Lisa day ages ago.  My girls at my youngest daughters college graduation.  Love how they support one another:)......

and found this page by Enza Gudor on the Pink Paislee blog and just fell in love with her concentric hearts.  I couldn't help but lift the design for this photo of me, hubby and youngest walking and talking.......

Every now and than an idea just flows and this was one of those pages.  I even used purple.  My nephew was adorable in his sea of bubbles and the "heck yes" card nailed the title.......

Happy Friday and thanks for stopping by!

April Was No Bueno In The Craft Room

My April Numbers are low.  Really low.  This is not a race.  I'm aware of that but man do I expect to do so much more of this hobby that brings me so much joy.  I love looking at my pages and remembering the moments in them.  Here goes.  In April I:

•  Completed 8 layouts 
•                      Used 16 pieces of patterned paper  
•                      Used 4 packages of stickers & embellishments  
•                      Used 7 pieces of cardstock and 
• used up 0 rolls of washi tape  and 
•                      Used up 0 - 6X6 pads  

May has got to do better than this lol.  

Maybe the reason that I created so little in April is because I'm really getting back into layered pages full of stuff and mixed media.  That sort of thing takes a lot of time:)  Maybe not so much on this page of my daughter.  Love the photo and plan to blow it up for the wall:)....

My kids hanging in a tree in the Virgin Islands.....

I love this page!  It is so different and had so many techniques and messy stuff.  And the layers.  Fun times!  This is a view of our resort that my daughter took when we went to the Virgin Islands.  I had originally printed the photo in color but there was already a whole lot of that going on so I changed it to B&W.  Much better.......

My sister and her sweet littlest.  He doesn't look to sure about the car does he?  I was originally going to do some splattering and watercoloring on this one but changed me mind about halfway through.  You can see the gesso in the top right and bottom left corners......

Happy Tuesday everyone and thanks for stopping by!

Getting Ready to Create? What's Your Process???

I don't know about you but my creating time is important to me.  I'm also busy so when I do make time, I have to make the most of it.  Not in a "you must rush, rush, rush, finish, finish, finish" kind of way but in a way that squeezes every second out of a limited amount of time.  

My process includes a few things that help me to get every bit of creating time that I can when I sit down to make stuff.  Number 1 is organization!  Not the kind of organizing where every thing in my room is labelled and color sorted but the kind where the things I use all the time are at arms length.  Nothing kills my mojo faster than having to get up and look for crap:) 

Number 2 is planning.  Yep.  I said planning.  About once a month I sit down with about 75 or so sheets of paper and a list of inspiration to put together.  Literally.  The papers get matched (usually 2-4 papers + 1 sheet of cardstock) with an idea and paper clipped together.  They are then put into a 12X12 paper holder until I'm ready to use them.  Easy peasy...

and Number 3 is cleaning my space.  I clean my space after every project.  All of the tools get put away, the desk gets a wipe and my leftovers get sorted.  IKR?  Who does that?  You would be surprised by how little time it takes and how much it helps.  

Other than that, really anything goes for getting ready.  Especially if it involves a good podcast and a glass of wine:)

Speaking of creating.  Layout share!  4 seems to be my magic number so here goes.....

Still having a bit of problems with the learning curve involved in printing on my new fancy paper.  This picture is so orange!  I still love this page with the photo of my nephews playing.  It's so boy....

February 2017 Hip Kit loveliness.  It took a crazy amount of time to stitch those circles but I'm lately obsessed with the look.  Thanks Paige Evans for sharing all of your stitched amazingness and inspiring me to stitch to the point of crazy:)......

More surprise wedding goodness 😍.  The design was inspired by Lilith Eeckles 30 Minute Layouts class at Big Picture Classes....

January 2017 Hip Kit Club.  My April Kit should be here today.  No shame in my game with sharing a page from January 😎.  I love these photos of my daughter!  She took them on her first real vacation as an adult.  Up to that point, she had never traveled anywhere without us.  Honestly she rarely goes anywhere without family and I think that this is one of maybe 3 trips she has taken with her friends....

Happy Monday Peeps!  Thanks for stopping by!!

Photo Paper

I don't know about you but printing photos is the bane of my scrappy life!  I print at home because I am mostly a product driven scrapbooker.   The papers and pretties speak to me, I create and than the photos get printed for the page.  A little backward but it works for me.  I guess I could just do all 4X6 but sometimes a smaller or very much larger photo is the best fit for what is going on on the page.  

Most of the time I use HP glossy.  Let me be real here.  I mostly use what I can get on sale:)  Photo paper is mad expensive!!  That being said, I really like the HP Glossy.  It's very popular so it can usually be found on sale.  The colors are crisp and the inks go on really well.  HP was not on sale and there were 3 sheets left in the box!  Epson Ultra Premium Luster was on sale and the photos on the box were amazing.  But, I'm not loving it:( My photos aren't looking nearly as good as they do on the glossy.  

See for yourself.  All 4 of the pages below have photos printed on the Epson paper and all of the photos seem to be a little washed out and flat.  They didn't come to life as the glossy paper seems to make them do.  Oh well, I'm stuck with it for now bc I bought 100 sheets which will print 200-250 photos for me.   Hopefully the love will grow as time goes on.  Lots of time.....

I love, love, love this page!  It is so full of color and fun:)  I used my silhouette cameo to cut a globe and then paper pieced the photo and other bits inside of it.....

* Design inspiration from Big Picture Classes - Jen Chapin Rainbow L4

This one is a favorite too:)  My niece snuck a selfie of her mom all dressed up.  She looked so content and happy that I fell in love with the photo.  I used my silhouette again to cut the flowers onto gray cs.  Than I backed it with the floral paper.  It looks complicated but it was a super simple page once all the cutting was done.....

All of the supplies are from my March 2017 Hip Kit.

This photo cracks me up and brings back good feelings about a day trip we took to visit my daughter last year.  These 2.  Sigh.....

A favorite photo (2nd time around:) of my girlies enjoying a day at the spa.....

Thanks for stopping by and happy HUMPDAY!  I can't believe that this weekend is (inter)national scrapbook day!!!

March Numbers

 I know it's May right!  But still, in March I:

•                      Completed 61 layouts (much better than the 28 pages done in February!)
•                      Used 114 pieces of patterned paper  
•                      Used 26 packages of stickers & embellishments  
•                      Used 60 pieces of cardstock and 
• used up 3 rolls of washi tape (when does that ever happen?) and 
•                      Used up 0 - 6X6 pads  

Not bad for a rookie user upper eh😎  I am super pleased with what I was able to accomplish in March and hopefully that will compensate a little for my sure to be terrible April numbers which I hope to get around to posting next week sometime.  I only blogged like 3 days last month...

I do have some pages to share today though and there are none that I hate so they all count lol.  

I love this page but am not so crazy about the photo.  This was taken way back in 2003 on a beginner camera.  Every single photo that we have from this trip managed to print super dark despite all of the glorious sunshine.  This one was taken inside so it is especially dark.  The story though.  The story is so important to how we live our lives now.  This was the first real vacation we had ever taken and it changed the way we spent our downtime.  Before we would take weekend trips that were more stressfull and super quick.  After, we decided that our family needed to spend more time traveling and getting away to do new things......

I realize that this page doesn't have any photos on it.  This is actually a page for the future.  Our last kid is leaving home this fall and I want to document what our first full year as empty nesters looks like.  I love how the page came out even though my stamping/embossing skills are not great......

Confession time.  I took apart one of my old scrapbooks and decided to rescrap all of the photos.  It was about 30 layouts.  I didn't like any of them!  This is the first and the photo will give you the first look at why most of the pages had to go.  I love this photo of my daughter but I had cut it up to go on the page.  I scanned it but could not make it bigger without losing quality.....

I saved my favorite for last.  This page was fun to make and is fun to look at!  I used several different colors of floss to stitch that fun circle pattern in the background.  I was brave (maybe foolish is a better word) and splattered black ink after I had stitched than added light embellishments........

Happy Monday everyone!  Thanks for stopping by!!