Me - the Photographer?

It's been a few years since we've had professional portraits taken (aside from school portraits). I decided I wanted to get a photographer to meet me and do outside pictures instead of studio shots. But...our schedule got in the way.

During spring break, I decided to just take the boys to a nearby town and get some shots of them together. We can get full family shots later. Unfortunately, I wasn't thinking clearly on the day I picked to do the pictures. We met some family in town for lunch beforehand and Kevin ended up with RED French dressing all over the front of his blue and white striped polo. (There's NEVER a dull moment with that kid!)

Sure, I could have either taken him home to change or opted to go another afternoon. But...I had coordinated the boys and set THAT afternoon aside for the pictures. With some creative cropping and positioning (Kevin...stand behind the tree...stand behind the railing...cross your arms...turn to the side), I got some great shots and no one will ever know Kevin's shirt was splattered with red dressing. I'm having enlargements made of some of my favorite shots, but I also used 4x6s (and some trimmed to 3.5x5) in this collage frame I've had for a while (a couple years?). I was really pleased with the shots I got with my point & shoot.

In other news, we are on day two of sunshine. Yay! Seeing the sun first thing in the morning just puts me in a better mood. That's a good thing!

Now if we can just keep the sun around for the weekend...

A little sunshine with Studio Calico...

The sun was out this morning! Yay!!! I needed that. We've had way too much rain lately.

In honor of the sun, I'd like to share some bright, fun layouts I made with the April Studio Calico kits. Yesterday was the presale for add-ons and I was reminded that I will soon have a box full of new supplies heading my way from them. It was time to share what I completed (so far) with April.

There was a lot of pink (and more butterflies) in April. So...you know that means I went for my Reese photos. I still had some of her hospital photos to scrap!April's embellishments were just amazing - Pink Paislee, Cosmo Cricket, Basic Grey... I used a little of everything on this one!

I also received Red cardstock this month. I LOVE RED! In flipping through one of my photo boxes, I saw these pics of the boys both wearing red. I challenged myself to make a non-feminine page...

Mixed some patterns with the use of my handy border punches. (I think I might "reward" myself with a new one this weekend...). The cool grid patterned paper was perfect for journaling. I added an American Crafts tag folded over a corner of the page topped with a button by Pebbles. (These are my favorite buttons!)

Finally I got to mix my alphas. The wood set from Pink Paislee is too cool. I debated misting them, but left them natural. I traced the inside of the black fabric Thickers for a finishing touch. Oh, and I traced around my photos with black pen to "frame" them, too. I am happy to say that thanks to the crazy (ok, ugly...) wall color in our doctor's office, that I had printed these photos of the boys in their adorable (haha) exam gowns in black and white. Black and white photos go with EVERYTHING. Even pink...

I love this grey cardstock. I want to buy it in bulk. I picked a couple fun patterns and opted for a simple design for this page that allowed for a big title using a couple of the Maya Road chipboard words from the kit. I am kicking myself now for not picking up the Piglet Mr. Huey at CKC. (I thought I didn't "need" pink...) However, I am crafty (right?) and decided to mist the words red with white on top of it. The result was the perfect pink. I continued my outlining on this title, too, and filled in the holes in the words with the Making Memories flower brads from the kit. I am also finding that baker's twine (I used Pink Paislee here) finishes off just about every layout.

The chalk drawings in this photo went great with the color scheme for April's kit. This layout was all about the embellishments. I selected them first. Then I decided to get creative with my Mr. Huey mists. The effect on my yellow cardstock was too pretty to cover up, so I skimped on patterned papers.

The mat behind my photo is actually the packaging from the Pink Paislee wood letters. I just punched the edge with one of my border punches. Then I embellished the page with American Crafts tags, Cosmo Cricket flowers and butterflies, buttons by Crate Paper and Pebbles, and chipboard strip by Cosmo Cricket.The verdict is still out on my last layout. It didn't turn out quite like I had envisioned it, but it's finished.

I mixed my title using Sassafrass Lass number stickers, Thickers on top of a Pink Paislee metal banner, and a chipboard word by Maya Road. I misted by chipboard with green, but then muted it a bit with White Mr. Huey mist. (I want these mists in every color!)

I did the same thing for my clouds. I used Mr. Huey in Bonny Blue topped with White.

I have a new photo order submitted and hope to have them in my hands before my May kit arrives.

I can't believe it is almost May!

Rain, rain go away...

It's been raining. For days. School was even delayed an hour today because of the flash flooding we've received. Ugh.


I miss the sun.


I miss our ballgames.


On a positive note, everything sure is green.

Our yard is growing like CRAZY!

That reminds me...I have a couple layouts that I made with the March kit from Studio Calico that I haven't shared yet. The photos are a couple years old, but the colors in the kit were perfect with my photos.

I made my own grass, added stitching and mixed my alphas.

Then I had to compare the old and the new mowers.

More stitching and grass...

I think Tom is itching to get on his mower and get our yard back into shape. Come on, sun!!!

Stay dry!

Oh, what a week...

I'm a little late in getting this photo-filled post up, but my computer is still having "issues" and for some reason didn't recognize my camera so I could share my photos. It's now officially the most wonderful time of the year. No, I'm not talking about Christmas...it's baseball season!!!


Last weekend was the most anticipated weekend of our year - Opening Weekend. Unfortunately Mother Nature didn't get the memo and it rained. It poured. Friday's opening ceremony was postponed to Saturday. Saturday was too. Finally we had sun on Sunday and after church, spent the rest of the day at the ballpark. It was pure bliss!This year Blake is in his final year of Little League. (Really??? Already???) He's a second year Major League Tiger. Tom is his coach. Kevin moved up to Rookie League and was drafted by the Braves. I love my two 18 Wheelers! :)


Kevin's team won their only tournament game last Sunday. We're still waiting to hear when the rest of the tournament will be played. He had two league games last week and they won both. He played 2nd base during the tournament and for the first game. For their Thursday game, he was in centerfield. Kevin is happy wherever they play him.
Blake had two tournament games on Sunday. They went 1-1. Blake pitched a really great game in their loss. It was a close one. So far this year he's played catcher, pitcher and 1st base. They lost one league game and had another called due to weather. Tonight's game has already been called because of all the rain we've been having and continue to have. It's going to be a crazy season!Last Tuesday, Blake's Scout Troop had their Court of Honor. Our boy was honored with six merit badges that he's earning since the COH in May. He was also recognized for his recent advancements. He's earned both 1st Class and Star since May. And, we are proud to say that he was elected as Patrol Leader for his patrol. We are so proud of this kid!With Easter approaching, Kevin's class decorated bunnies. We didn't go all out like we had for the turkey back in November, but he still had a great project to submit. He decided to enter "Racin' Rabbit" into the contest. Everybody was a winner. More storms are headed our way. I'm ready for some sunshine!

Happy Easter!

It was a happy (but wet!) Easter weekend for our family. Saturday night we colored our eggs.The boys were proud of the ones they did. We opted for the box of neon food colors this year - Kevin's choice. Then we made some iced sugar cookies. We were delayed a bit due to a tornado warning so we opted for plain dropped cookies instead of rolling them out and using egg-shaped cookie cutters. They tasted the same either way. We put the neon food coloring to good use and dyed the icing, too. The rain interfered with our traditional outdoor photos. I had to stand on the porch at an angle to get the front door wreath in the photo. Don't my boys look sharp?

Storms were in the forecast today, so we changed our plans and instead of driving 2 hours to visit family in Indiana, we stayed close to home and went to my parents' house for lunch and an egg hunt. It quit raining long enough for the egg hunt.

The boys had fun with their cousins. I had fun playing with Reese today. She's growing up too fast! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

Spring break scrappin' with Studio Calico...

I have more layouts to share that I completed over spring break. I knew my April box from Studio Calico was in the mail and I was feeling guilty about not using my March supplies yet. I pulled out my box with the March kit, a couple add-ons and more SC paper and got to work.

When I first saw the yellows and greens in the papers, I knew I wanted to pull out some of my farming photos. My dad has John Deere tractors. I usually find it hard to scrap my farm photos, but several layouts quickly came together with my box of March goodness.

"Corn Planting Time" quickly became a new favorite layout of mine. I am happy to have this moment of my boys walking across the field (where I grew up) to meet my dad in the tractor. I remember doing this so many times myself as a child. Even though I turned the KI calendar paper on its side the lines of the paper are sideways, I still had plenty of room to journal. I mixed the Cosmo Cricket chipboard alphas with my favorite shade of green (ever!) Thickers and hand cut letters from one of the Studio Calico papers. Finally, I put my new Martha Stewart punch to good use and accented the shapes with buttons from the kit.

"Field Notes" looks a little similar, but instead of planting corn, the boys and dad were harvesting wheat.

"Run or I'll Shoot!" used newly printed (used 1 hour at Walgreens!) photos to tell a story that I never want to forget. We sent Blake out to run for his daily exercise and noticed he had cut across a yard instead of making the full loop. Kevin, armed with a full water gun, cut across the yard behind us to wait for his unsuspecting brother. When Blake passed him, Kevin followed the rest of the way around threatening to shoot him if he slowed up. I love these boys!

You can barely see the boys through the trees, but the moment is now properly documented. Again, I enjoyed mixing my alphas. (Do I ever not?)

Next, it was time to get girly. New photos of Reese worked perfectly with the more feminine papers and butterfly embellishments from an add-on. I love her curls!!!

I'm so not the butterfly person...but I did like using these little ones by Cosmo Cricket.

I thought the colors in the Cosmo Cricket circle paper fit the colors in boys' service project photos perfectly. I just didn't get too creative with my title.

Even though they were bagging trees, I thought the flower and butterfly embellishments worked, too.

Loved all of the green in this kit. (It's my favorite color, you know.) Green reminded me of Wicked. I went last May with my sister.

The KI Memories folder/pocket was perfect for the playbill and extra photos.

I also had more John Deere photos. Again, I didn't stress over trying to always have a creative title...

This kit was perfect for outdoor photos. I went down memory lane a bit with this one. The photos are nearly five years old. A lot has changed in five years. My boys have really grown.

Sometimes just a grouping of things in a corner really finish off a layout.

Even with all of these layouts, I still have a great supply of products. And, I've yet to touch the April box that arrived during spring break. I'm starting to think I should pass on add-ons for May. I probably shouldn't even go to the SC site around reveal time!

Happy scrappin'!

Spring Break Scrappin'...

I can't believe I just wrapped up a full week of work after returning from Spring Break. (Time flies!) However, it does seem like ages since I had that week off from work! I have a few layouts I finished during Spring Break that I'd like to share... I broke out my new "Playground" collection by Echo Park that I picked up with my design team credit from CropChocolate.com. I made a super, simple layout using a couple of photos that were on my last photo order. I thought Kevin and Reese were too cute at the ballpark together during one of Blake's baseball practices. Next, the proud mom that I am wanted to document Blake's amazing science project - the 3D animal cell. I've had these October Afternoon school themed products sitting in my stash for way too long. It was time to use them!

I love this page! I used pop dots under the tips of my banner flags.

My boy got a perfect score on this one. I am so proud of him!

So many photos...so little time!

OH! I almost forgot...if you get a chance, check out the new May/June issue of Creating Keepsakes Magazine. I have a layout included in the birthday section of the magazine. I'm idea #3.

Scrappin' {Sports} Stuff...

Over spring break, I was able to work in some valuable scrap time! I pulled out my stash of products from Scrappin' {Sports} Stuff and went to work... I was most excited about using the new "Toy Box" line from Crate Paper. As a mom of two boys, I am a fan of the masculine lines. I loved how versatile this one is. I had new photos in hand and really wanted to scrap this moment of me catching Kevin reading before bed. EVERYTHING on this layout came from the Toy Box line and it's all in stock at Scrappin' {Sports} Stuff. (Go check it out!)

I just loved the different alphas that came on the sticker sheet and that big wooden button was my favorite. (I might have to buy another set of them when I place my next design team order!)

Even though I thought I had exhausted my supply of Teresa Collins' "Sports Edition II" products, I still managed to get one more layout completed with scraps. The photo was another one from a recent order and I wanted to get my journaling down before I forgot about it. I think the Letterman Thicker font is my favorite font EVER! (I only have them in every color...)

I went super simple on my next layout. I used one of the K & Company Boy Scout-themed paper slabs in the shop. After making my photos into two 8x10 collages, this layout came together really quick. Quick is great!

I pulled out some older (from last fall) photos to work with the October Afternoon "Campfire" line. It came in my DT order a couple months ago and I felt like I'd neglected it a bit. I scrapped Blake's scouting campsite for this page.

LOVE the different embellishments that were available with this line!

"Backyard Fire" documents the fun we have in our own backyard. Although, I have to admit that it's a little strange seeing Blake build the fire all by himself! (Oh the joys of Scouting!)

Everything about this page makes me happy. But I think Kevin's big cheeks as he blows out the fire on his marshmallow is my favorite part of the page.

Baseball season starts this weekend. That may end my "season" of scrapping for a while, but I will have a lot of new photos to scrap soon.

Have a great weekend!