Two Page Scrapbook Layout - "Smile Smile"

It's really heating up in northeastern Indiana. This is the perfect evening to catch up with my blog! I have so many summer layouts to share with you.\

Here's one form a few years back. Our extended family got together at my husband's sister and brother-in-laws home in Michigan. So much fun with siblings, nieces, nephews, and cousins! They have a lovely pool, so they're home is a big, big draw in the summertime. Getting us all there at the same time is the hard part!

 I used the circles to echo the circular window in the clubhouse. I didn't really want to cut these pictures into circles, but instead I used the circles as an accent. I also journaled around the cirlces.

 Aren't they cuties? The girl and the blondie are my grandbabies!! The other two handsome boys are my great nephews!! Love them all and it's so fun to see them play together since the great nephews live in Texas. They really don't get to see each other very much.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!! Stay cool! I'll be sharing a few more layouts from our family's extended weekend together over the next few days. Don't forget to stop back!

One Page Scrapbook Layout - "Up in the Attic"

The attic in our old home was a place of great mystery. Our grandkids were so intrigued and curious every time we pulled down the stairway to take something up or down. They were dying to see what was up there! Just before we moved out of our home, we gave them the opportunity to go up and check it out.

Their Daddy helped them up and down since there aren't any railings to hold onto. Look at the terrified look on their faces! I guess it wasn't nearly as much fun as they thought it might be. 😏 They took a quick look around up there at the stacks of boxes and they were done! 

This probably seems like a silly thing to scrapbook, but it's just one more memory of our home  and our moving days that I'm trying to preserve. Our boys (now grown) were up and down those steps so many times during the moving process!! They just kept bringing boxes down....so much STUFF!! They were such good troopers about it. It brings tears to my eyes every time I think about how much help they were to us!! They kept us moving forward and were so entertaining in the process. I wanted to curl up in a ball and make it all go away, but their maturity, perseverance, and sacrifice just kept us going until finally it was all done! We really can't thank them enough. I've never been more proud of the amazing young men they've become. And...did I mention my daughter-in-laws!!! Holy cow! They were hoisting furniture, boxes....all in sub zero weather, blowing snow and wind! 

We're incredibly thankful and blessed to be in our new home. Yes, we still have an attic, but this time with a real stairway and a lot less junk! 

Two Page Scrapbook Layout - "This is Life"

I'm sharing another layout from a few years back featuring candid photos of an extended family get together. We had such a great time!! It's especially fun to see the littles play together!

 The paper is Cloud 9 with washi from MakingMemories "Boy Crazy" and ribbon from American Crafts.

 I punched a bunch of different circles from scraps and used them as a super simple embellishment. I like the way they looked with the "This is Life" title from Cricut's Graphically Speaking. Can I just say it again...I LOVE this cartridge, and use it all the time for titles! The journaling card is from Doodlebug.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!! Have a happy scrappy weekend!

Two Page Scrapbook Layout - "Batter Up"

I'm not a big fan of baseball. It's a little too slow for me. Does this  make me un-American? Each year we join our fellow employees for a company party at Parkview Stadium for a Tin Caps baseball game complete with food and fireworks.

 This particular company picnic was actually two years ago! How am I so far behind posting my layouts? This year's picnic will happen tonight, and even though I'm not a fan of the sport, I'm a fan of all the wonderful people we work with!! They are such a blessing in my life. We took my son and his family two years ago. That's our granddaughter with the cute little piggy tails, and her new baby brother in the car seat.

 The other couple are very long time friends and the wife also works with us. Love them!! All of this to say that coworkers, friends and family can make a baseball game tons of fun for this non-fan.

The paper is Recollections "Today, Tomorrow, Forever", along with Washi from MME's Boy Crazy collection and American Crafts. The title font is Cricut's Jubilee (runt).

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

Two page layout - "Birthday Wishes"

Happy Birthday to my awesome kiddos!! My boys share the same birthday TODAY! Joel turns 23 years and Jacob is 21. Everybody always asks me how I managed to have my sons on the same day, two years apart. I have absolutely no idea, but it was apparently God's plan that Joel receive a special little bundle on his 2nd birthday. Somebody he would always love and have as brother and friend.  We are so proud of our kids and the strong, faithful young men they have become. They have truly blessed our lives.

Today is the perfect day to share the layout of last year's birthday celebration. Since they are used to celebrating together, we've started a tradition of celebrating with Jacob at BSU on their special day. I'd rather we were all at our home for the occasion, but we try to stay flexible and do whatever works best for the whole family. Muncie is just an hour away, and the cake will travel. :)

Pink Paisley "Indigo Bleu" was the perfect set for the occasion. The banner on the left is a layer of washi tape, and a banner made with flowers and circles. I realize the page is all about the boys, but I think the flowers are still appropriate.

 Here's a closer shot of the banner.

 They opened their presents together and Jacob got to cuddle his niece for a little while. He really misses her when he's away at school. So thankful he's not too far away for a visit now and then. The title is cut with Cricut's "Birthday Bash" cartridge and dry embossed with a chevron design (Lifestyle Crafts). The yellow Washi helps highlight the title.

 I used StampinUp's "Details" for the journaling lines on the right. I poked two holes on each side of the family shot so I could wrap and tie it with hemp. This helps to tie in the texture from the banner and highlights the family pose.

This crazy bunch certainly has my heart! I love them so much. Family is the best blessing ever!! It's fun to watch them grow up and start their own families. The best thing about boys is they bring amazing young women (wives and granddaughters) into your life. This year we will celebrate together on Saturday to accommodate Joel's work schedule, but we'll Skype tonight. Can't wait!

2 Double Page Layouts - "Turtle Farm" & "Underwater Views"

What a crazy couple of weeks at work. I'm so excited to take a minute and share a few layouts with you.

I'm still finishing up my album from our 25th anniversary cruise a few years back. This layout features pictures from the Turtle Farm at Grand Cayman. The turtle and title font are cut with Cricut's "Life is a Beach" cartridge.

 The background paper is pretty cool. The aqua stains and faint writing adds to the pretty/grungy look. I did add a strip of solid aqua to break up the pattern, but then decided to add a faint script background stamp to match the grungy look.

 I added the title to the right side and wrapped it around a picture with the turtle diecut. I inked it up with a little more aqua ink to make it look a little watery. The idea was to not add too much contrast to the page, but to allow the title to blend in a bit.

 Here are both sides together. These turtles are so cute. It was fun to actually hold some of the smaller ones.

Here's another layout from our Grand Cayman excursion. Again, the grungy paper...I can't help myself. =) The friendly fish and cute crab are also cut from Life is a Beach cartridge. The layered circles reminded me of bubbles. I added a bit of Stickles to the fish and crab just for fun.

 The antique boat we were in was really interesting, and we were able to see many different types of fish.

Here is the whole layout, side by side. I still have a few more cruise layoutos to do. My album will be bursting out of the binding!! Such great memories! It's hard to not scrap them all!

My favorites of 2012

It's good to be blogging again after a few weeks away from posting. We had a wonderful Christmas with our sweet family. This was our first Christmas with Scarlet Rose and she added so much joy to our family gatherings. Now it's 2013....a brand new year to make the most of opportunites that come our way.

In keeping with last year, I will take a few minutes and review my favorite layouts and cards scrapped and posted in 2012. I'm hoping this will inspire others and me to keep up with scrapping and preserving all of the sweet memories and moments of our lives.

Top 10 of 2012 in order by date of post....Here we go!

1. Happy Birthday - Owl birthday card - I love the grunge and the owl with attitude.


2. "Riley" - I love the chipboard banner and his beautiful loving puppy dog eyes.


3. "Around Town" - I love all of the layered circles and circle banner with fake stitching.


4. Lake Michigan mini vacation - I love the beachy vibe, stamped sun rays, and the great pictures of my son.


5. Sunny Outlook - I love the colors, and the faces. =)


6. South Haven - Again, I love the colors along with the nautical banners and stamped journaling tags.


7. Happy Birthday flower card - I love all of the texture on this card.


8. Mrs. scarecrow easel card - I had so much fun making her!


9. All Our Love - I love the great family shots of our precious grandbaby and the twine-wrapped frame.


10. Owl birthday card with woodgrain - I love the wood-grain texture folder.


Hope you enjoyed this year in review as much as I have. One goal I have for 2013 is to post more often. May God bless you all richly in this new year. I appreciate each of you who follow my blog!! Thank you!! I am honored.

Two double layuots - "Around Town" and "Miracle"

Happy National Scrapbook Day!!! I wish I were scrapping, but hopefully soon! Thought I'd better at least take time to post something. =)

This is another layout of Lake Placid, NY. We were there last fall and I'm still working on cranking out the pages. We took so many pictures. I'm trying to only scrap the best, but still have a lot to work on.

I had lots of fun with circles and faux stitching. The base is Little Yellow Bicycle's "Twig". All of the circles came from my scrap box, Cloud 9 Design, Deja Views, and more. I lined up the photos on a matt edged with the Fiskars postage stamp border punch.

The circles are made with SU 2.5" circle punch. I used journalling strips and inked the edges with T. Holtz pumice distressing ink.

The title font is from Cricut Cake's Birthday Cake cartridge.

Do you remember the 1980 winter Olympic games when the US defeated Russia for the gold medal in hockey? Okay, so I'm not a hockey fan at all, but those olympic games are a huge part of Lake Placid's claim to fame. You should check out the movie made about it called "Miracle on Ice". These pictures were taken at the arena where it all happened.

The paper is Coredinations and Paper Studio. I opted for letter stickers from The Paper Studio for the title. I matted the photos with two different colors of gray. The fun 3D looking star accent is from the Art Philosophy cartridge.

It's extremely rare for me to not use any patterned paper on a page. I wasn't even thinking about it at the time, but sure enough, there is none to be found. =) It lets the multiple pictures (9!!) shine through and be the stars of the page.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today! Enjoy your weekend!!

"Celebrate 50" Birthday layout

Happy Thursday to all of you. Is anybody seeing signs of warm weather in the midwest? I would just love to see the sun for awhile. I know it's coming soon, but I'm getting impatient.

Here's a layout of pictures taken on New Year's Day. Get this.... we were celebrating Christmas with Mark's family, it was New Years Day, and if that wasn't enough, we threw in a 50th birthday celebration for Mark. Little did he know at this time, that we were also planning a surprise party for him at our house for the actual day of his birthday on January 13!!! I love planning surprises.

This is such a great sketch from Scrapbooks, Etc.  I love the circles! I love the bright, crazy colors together on white. The circles seem to float off the page. It' especially funny that you can see the Christmas tree in the background. I had a little bit of a struggle cropping my pictures just the right way to fit in the circle perfectly, but it was worth the effort. You might be able to see the journalling around the big purple circle and around some of the smaller circles.

The right side shows our silly nephew and one of his crazy faces and more journalling around the circles.  For the bottom right circle, I held a circle in place and journalled around it, then removed the cirlce for a different effect. I stitched on a few buttons just for fun.

Hope this insprires you to try out a layout of circles sometime. It was tricky, but I love the way it turned out. It would be easy enough to add more circular pictures in place of the patterned paper circles.

Thanks for looking! Have a blessed week!

More birthday inspiration - "50 & Framed" and "It's a Surprise"

I know I've been sharing a LOT of birthday layouts, but I'm not done yet. LOL!

These two layouts are pictures from my sweet husband's 50th birthday celebration. "Framed" makes me smile because there are tons of pictures of our favorite friends and family who came to celebrate with us. A few of our closest friends came early (while we were still at dinner) to let everybody in. They got the excellent idea of snapping everybody's pictures holding up a white picture frame! I love how these turned out! What a great memory of all who came to share in the surprise celebration!!

Left side:

Right side: 

Full layout: 

The pictures in this layout are  from the actual party ...you know, blowing out the candles, sillyness, opening gifts, etc.

Left side:

Right: 

Both sides together: 

Close up of the dry embossed and stamped circles: 

Journalling close up: 

Thanks so much for following my blog! I always enjoy hearing from other crafty people like you. It's still not to late to enter the drawing for my blog candy. Make sure you comment on the blog candy post and not this one if you want to win the GlitzDesign stamp set! I will post the winner some time tomorrow evening.