Thickers...Get Rid of 'Em

On your mark. Get set. Go! The Use Your Thickers challenge has begun. Well, I realize it is a self-challenge. However, I have to make it look like it will be more than me playing or I will cheat and not do it. For anyone wishing to join in, please do. There's no prize other than depleting some of the overabundance of scrap joy in your drawers, refrigerator or wherever you store them. They are similar to rabbits and seem to reproduce quite rapidly.

Enjoy!

American Girls

Que the mood music....Well she was an american girl................ Ahhh....you just have to love Tom Petty. :o)

There seems to be nothing better than an American Girl doll for a seven year old. This past Monday I took Emily to the Mall of America to pick out her birthday present. She has been talking about Chrissa, since January. However, once there she was overwhelmed with possibilities and had to wander around. I think it was just to make sure she wasn't missing out on anything. The decision came down to Kit or Chrissa. We eventually left with Chrissa in hand and Emily has been skipping on cloud nine ever since. Here's the layout to document the adoption:

Just so you don't think I am the All That Aunt that would spend 100 bucks on a birthday present, I didn't purchase this solely. Her grandma kicked in some funds, too. I may be cool, but I'm not that amazing. Dang...it hurt to admit that.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday!

Oh brother...............

I used stamps. Just minimally. Nice that the person, who set the stamp challenge found no mojo of using them. I kind of thought that would happen. But oh well...there is always tomorrow (or next month). This is what I came up with.

I decided that each weekend I am going to set a self-challenge. Next weekend is Clean out the Thickers. I have a motherlode as I am sure many other do. I vow to use up at least three package. Somehow. Someway. Why do I set myself up for potential failure? LOL!

Five Product Challenge

I was asked by Emily at Studio Calico to participate in a challenge, which was to use five named items on a layout. Surprisingly, I found it easier to do this than figuring out what to use all by myself. I kind of liked being told what to do. Quite unusual and an epiphionic moment for me. Normally being told what to do results in the opposite. But I like Emily and recognized it was for my own good. LOL! So what you see up above is the result. Not bad. Items that we had to use were alphabet letters, metal, SC pattern paper, floss (double points for using dental floss) and paint. You can read more about the challenge and see what the others came up with here: Five Product Challenge and here: More Challenge Layouts. Lots of awesomeness.

For this upcoming weekend I plan on a lot of laying around and scrapping. I plan this every weekend and it rarely happens. Maybe this time I will get lucky. A few of the BASB girls have decided to have a small mini challenge of using stamps on a layout this weekend. No prizes. Just the victory of knowing we for once have used a stamp. Care to play along? If so, place a link to your creation in the comments here. I would love to see them. I will share mine once complete.

Enjoy your weekend!

Revisiting Back to School

The new challenge is up at BASB. Diana is hosting and has put together a Back to School Challenge. Twist...it is about your recollection of school...not your kids. I had a blast in school, especially once I got in high school. Lots of fun and friends. However, looking at my layout and reading the journaling you would think I was scarred for life. Not true, but my first grade teacher was sure....how do I say this nicely?...a witch (remove the w replace with a b). Here's my layout:

I tell you...having a teacher like her makes you appreciate the good ones. Getting off the subject of sadistic teachers, let's talk about what a goon I was. Honestly, nice ribbon. Didn't I know ribbons were for scrapping? Oh and as Liz pointed out...nice Farrah hair. I wish it really was. It was a bit flat. I had gym before that photo was taken and my nicely feathered hair had decompressed before cheese escaped my lips. I guess I didn't use enough Aquanet. :o)

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you get a chance to relive your school days. If not in the challenge, at least in your mind! :o)

A Baby Book in a Week, a.k.a WTHeck Was I Thinking!

I am a procrastinator.

WHAT

I am the worst kind of procrastinator. Let's just admit that and get it out of the way. I have tried fixing this throughout my life, but it is a losing cause and I have given up. However, deciding to do a baby album a week before I needed to give it as a gift is even beyond my usual norm.

THE

But that's what I did.

HECK

Last week I decided to make a mini album - brag book size - slap down photo, adhere and stick on a Paperkin. Yeah. Nothing too trying. Until word got out amongst the family and that mini album turned into a project. Family....you gotta love them. Actually, do you really? ;o)

YIPPEE

So I did and I completed it in a week and it turned out good. Not great. Not supreme. Just good. I am happy with it. I made the layouts super simple and fast. I left a lot of blank spaces for her to write in. I think it will be more personal that way, plus it took two days off of the project. Yep...a shortcut with a reason.

TONIGHT

Tonight I gave the scrapbook to her and honestly her reaction outdid what I even expected. Upon meeting my Baby Cousin I think I pretty much would do it for him again. Even if I only had one day. I mean how could you turn this guy down?

JONAH

JONAHJONAH

He had me at hello. He had me at goo. He had me..... Well, he has me.

HELLO

So here is what I ended up with:

Not too bad for a one week notice. Give me another week and I would have added a lot more sparkle and glitter. Oh well. There is an add-on gift to this gift. For one year I will make layouts and send them to my cousin (the baby's mom) for her to add to the book. I bet you are thinking she should have all those layouts by the time Jonah is ten. You just may be right. ;o)

Thanks for putting up with my rambling. One day I will learn how to summarize, but that is on my list of things to do. Ha!

Enjoy your day!

Circle Journals: Jen and Greta

I currently have two circle journals in my possession after a couple months of none. The break was great, but when these books showed up ready for my input I drew a blank. I couldn't remember how to start. LOL! It eventually came back to me. We are almost at the end of the journey with this project. In fact, I think my layout was the final for Jen's and Greta's just needs one more. It is very exciting knowing that very soon we will all have our albums back.


First up is Jen Armentrout's journal. Her guidelines are based on favorites. She asked that we scrap a favorite photo using a favorite technique with a favorite product. She sure took the theme to the extreme and I love that. Speaking of love, I love this photo of Nick. I just used it a couple of weeks ago for a different layout. Whenever I look at this I crack up, because I remember how hard he tried not to laugh and all it took was one word from me and he lost it. Good times. Favorite technique was a few different things - sewing, punching, using fabric and stamping. For favorite product I bent the rules a bit and choose Studio Calico. I have never met a kit I haven't liked. Almost everything on this layout is from one or another of their kits. Jen also included a questionnaire on favorites. I think she didn't miss a thing when putting her journal together!

Next is my layout for Greta Baksa's journal. Her theme was life lessons. I have lived a long time and have learned (and not learned) a lot of lessons, but do you think I could think of one on demand. Nope. It took awhile, but I found one - Appreciate what you have and you won't need anything else. Pretty basic and probably one of the most important lessons you can learn. I had to use polka dots on G's journal. Whenever I see polka dots it reminds me of her. My first idea for a life lesson was Slow down and smell the roses. I was going to use a copy of my speeding ticket from two weeks ago as the background photo. The idea didn't pan out, but it would have been hilarious.

POLKA

So that's it for scraps and circle journals.

DOTS

On a completely different topic. Why in the world am I sitting here watching Shark Week on Discovery? It is really grossing me out. This; however, may explain why on Jen's questionnaire I listed Great White Shark as my favorite animal. That came out of the blue. Now I know it is due to watching too much tv. LOL!

BYE

Thanks for stopping by today! Have a great one!