Easter is on the way...

Lent is here and we are preparing for the upcoming Easter. This year our church is promoting small group meetings. The purpose of the meetings is to discuss our faith and remind us why we practice the way we do. I am participating every Wednesday night. I really enjoy the other four women in my group. We made a plan to be more "present" this week in how we worship.

I think being "present" is something I often take for granted. I might be somewhere or participating in something, but am I really "present"? Often, I'm probably just going through the motions. Since Wednesday, I've been trying to be a lot more aware while doing everything. Not just at church. Not just in prayer. But in EVERYTHING.

While driving the boys to haircuts yesterday, I was aware of the beautiful way the sun's rays were coming through the clouds. (Instead of stressing about being on time.)

On Thursday instead of staying home to catch up on housework during the boys' baseball practices, I went along too. The weather was beautiful and it was so much fun watching the boys with their new teams.

And, in church today I was more aware of the readings and my responses. I heard every word of the songs and really thought about what they were saying. I sat between my two boys and enjoyed seeing them participate as well.

I have to admit though, all this being present has pushed my scrapbooking to the backseat a bit. That and NCAA basketball! My evenings have been a bit occupied while I watch games with my guys.

I did manage to finish one layout recently. This layout is an assignment for Crop Chocolate. I used the new Echo Park "For the Record" paper line. I just added a set of Thickers for my title. I thought it was fitting to include an Easter layout in this post. I love celebrating Easter with my family. Back to scrapping...I also love all the journaling and accent stickers that come with the Echo Park paper lines.

With the new week starting, I hope you all take some time to be present.

Happy Spring!

Traveling with Crop Chocolate...

This month's Chocolatier assignment over at Crop Chocolate was to scrap something Travel or Vacation related. I used the new "Little Boy" line from Echo Park and ended up making two layouts to fit the theme.

For my first layout, I found a shot of Kevin sleeping in the backseat on the way home from the zoo. Has it really been THREE YEARS since this photo was taken??? LOVED the multiple alpha stickers and word phrases in this kit. I added some to my journaling. Love how that turned out. But, the story is the most important part of this layout.

Everything on this layout was included in the paper pack except for the orange/white baker's twine I added and pop dots, of course. I found another photo from 2008 to scrap for the vacation topic - our trip to St. Louis. I loved mixing the patterns from this line.

I cut some "tags" out of the journaling card paper to use as a backdrop for my mixed alpha title. And, I added a cloud sticker from the paper pack (adhered with pop dots).

One of my Martha Stewart border punches was put to good use on this layout, too. For a finishing touch, I cut a star out of one of the patterned papers and adhered it with pop dots to make an extra embellishment. The deals at Crop Chocolate are great. I love that they carry the new Echo Park papers as soon as they come out. Last week, their new "For the Record" paper line arrived on my doorstep. :)

It was a TEN layout Saturday...

Last week was a rough week. Blake breaking his arm really threw me for a loop. To say I was stressed was an understatement. I need my "therapy" - I needed to scrap. Saturday I did. I really didn't do much else.

Instead of staring at photos and product and trying to find a starting point, I decided I was going to scraplift a few layouts that I loved to get the creative juices flowing. I printed out some layouts by Shannon Zickel that I found on the Jillibean Soup blog. Then I matched up photos with each layout. Most of the photos I pulled were Christmas photos and they all had a story that I wanted to scrap along with them.

I still had the "Everybody Loves Christmas" line by Echo Park out on my workspace. (Remember, I used it to make a Valentine's Day layout for Crop Chocolate...here.) I decided to go ahead and use the rest of the line before pulling out any other Christmas products.

"I Got This!" is a pretty straight scraplift. I did add the "merry & bright" accent in the upper left corner and I tied baker's twine around my oversized journaling card. The circles allowed me to use snippets of various patterns. I was also able to scrap all the photos of Blake opening gifts with the Smiths on Christmas (printed b/w on a 5x7). I decided to add brads to the circles. (I have a lot of them...might as well use them!) I also used a Doodlebug alpha for my title. I love this shade of green. These stickers had been neglected. My new motto for 2011 is "if you've got it...use it!""Family Gift Time" was inspired by one of Shannon's layouts, but then I took off in a different direction. Still, it was a great starting point. Since the layout was about Blake's special gift to ME, I used a pink background. (Not that I like pink, but... I had it, so I used it.)

*Please note that I didn't cut off our heads in cropping the photo! Kevin did it when he took the shot on Christmas morning!

Oh, I love a mixed title. And pop dots. And buttons. With twine. Seeing a trend?

"Hey, it's ACDC" is an exact scraplift. Yes, I stole her layout. I admit. I liked it so much. The differences? Well, I used some chipboard stars since I didn't have enough corrugated ones and I used different papers and alphas. Plus, I cut the name of the paper line off the bottom strip of one of my papers and I added it as a "tab" at the top of one photo. Yep...MY idea there.

Background story...I remember Dad saying, "Hey, it's ACDC" whenever we'd hear one of their songs. He did that in the tractor with my boys one day and later they asked me what was so "big" about ACDC. I had to laugh. It's just one of those things... Well, before Christmas, I found a set of ACDC pint glasses in Target. I bought them for the boys to give to Dad at Christmas. HAD to scrap that memory!

The Smith family is growing! (But, we didn't have any additions this year.) With five grandkids, it's a little hard to get a good shot! We took six of the kids together and still didn't get a great one of all of them! "Say Cheese...Again!" was inspired by a single page layout by Shannon. I stretched it and added a few things, took off a few things. I wanted to lift the layout that "the gift" is based on because of a cool flower Shannon had made out of ribbon. But, I used the layout and didn't even add a flower...

The layout is simple, but one of my favorites. It tells the story about a gift Blake REALLY wanted, but I didn't get him. My mom did. I captured the photo of him thinking her. Now, if we just had video of him screaming when he opened it...

I love that I had a set of mixed alpha stickers by American Crafts that matched the paper line I was using.

"Thanks Bro" is a pretty close lift of one of Shannon's 2-page 8-1/2x11 layouts. I stretched mine to 12x12, rounded my corners and straightened my photos. Every year the boys buy a special gift for each other. I even hand-cut some trees out of a paper and added them with pop dots (what else?!?). "Merry Merry Merry" is sooooo simple, but it's one of my favorites. And it's a direct lift (pretty much - changed the photo sizes). I had to scrap Blake opening his watch on Christmas since it was a special gift. I didn't use any patterned paper on this one (unless you count the Scenic Route grid background). The red circles to the right of the photos are tags by Shabby Chic Crafts. I added the brads. I used a green snowflake sticker from the Echo Park line (adhered with pop dots!).

Notice I'm getting a lot of use out of my neglected Doodlebug alphas and Jillibean Soup journaling sprouts. :)

"6 Snow Days" might be my favorite layout from Saturday. This is a lift, but I did mix it up a bit. I even broke out my new Tim Holtz Tumbled Glass distressing ink to ink my "6" chipboard. The color wasn't exactly right, so I added Mr. Huey White mist (by Studio Calico) over top and then the color was PERFECT. I liked the ink and continued to ink the edges of my layout.

I added some felt trim and a Jenni Bowlin calendar page. Even though this layout reminds me that we missed six days of school in January alone (that we have to make up!), I still love it. I really liked the row of hearts Shannon on had on one layout, so I lifted it. I did switch some things up though. Everything in the upper left corner came out of a little dish of extras I had on my scrap table. I love using up random stuff. It makes me feel ok about "saving it for later."Instead of machine stitching, I handstitched across the hearts. Finally, I wanted to scrap pics of gifts I gave this Christmas. All I took from one of Shannon's layouts was the strips below the photos. Plus, I changed the size of the layout. Added more strips of paper in the upper corner and a sticker adhered with pop dots. Oh, and more baker's twine. And now my Echo Park "Everybody Loves Christmas" paper pack is no more...

I love to scraplift. Every so often I need to. It really gets me over a hump and allows me to complete several layouts quickly. Plus, certain elements on a layout remind me of things in my stash that I should be using.

Too bad I have to go to work tomorrow...I'm really on a roll scrap-wise!

Enjoying the holiday(s)...

I enjoyed being out of school for the holiday today.

Although Tom had to go into work, we still made time for a family game "late afternoon" with Monopoly. We love the new electronic banking version.

Kevin thought it was a "hair-raising" experience!

I also worked in some time to scrap today and made three layouts last night after the boys went to bed. Since I didn't have to get up early for school, I stayed up late. Really late!

My recent photo order contained several Christmas photos and I decided it was finally time to use my "Merry Christmas" paper collection by Echo Park. I had purchased this as soon as it was released, but saved it to use with this years' photos.

For the first layout, "Ready for Christmas Mass," I used a silvery shade of Bazzil bling cardstock. The boys' expressions were so fun in these photos that I had to scrap them all. To accent my page, I used the ornament stickers from the 12x12 sheet and adhered them with pop dots. I added baker's twine to make them look like they were hanging.

The dark brown background I used for "Christmas Pajama Memories" didn't photograph too well today. It stayed overcast. I am really happy with how it looks in person though. I was inspired by Allison Davis' 2-page Sketch #7 at Sketch Support.

I added a word sticker by KI Memories and foil Thickers for my title.

When I thought I was finished with the layout, I realized it was still missing "something" so I added the buttons to the tree. Of course, I had to tie them on!

Then I switched gears to scrap a few single-page layouts. First up was Kevin's Christmas program at school this year. I liked the "Merry Christmas" sticker so much that I used it in place of a title on the page.

I used pop dots on the sticker embellishments.

One of my favorite Christmas activities was the family outing (16 of us!) to see "A Christmas Story" at a local historic movie theater.

I added bling to the centers of the snowflake stickers.

Finally, I completed a layout showcasing the tree in Kevin's room. He decorated it all by himself. I love seeing the handmade ornaments from each year.

Several items from my stash were added to this page (Jenni Bowlin large star covered in Stickles, Jenni Bowlin mini bingo card, random vellum tag, baker's twine, button, bling brad). I also sprayed the page with Pearl Glimmer Mist.

I think I have enough scraps left for a few more layouts...

"Wintertime" with Crop Chocolate...

This quarter I completed my Chocolatier projects for Crop Chocolate using the new Echo Park "Wintertime" paper line. This wonderful paper pack comes with 12 DOUBLE-sided 12x12 patterned papers, a 12x12 sheet of elements stickers, and a 12x12 sheet of alphabet stickers that includes THREE different alphas!

My first layout - "Wintertime Help" - showcases Blake's driveway-clearing skills. I added some red Foil Thickers to mix up my title a bit, a button, and soem baker's twine. This page uses two different sheets of patterned paper, the element stickers, and the alphabet stickers (date). I adhered some of my elements with pop dots to add some dimension to the page.

For further dimension, I added glossy accents to the circles on the border sticker strip. Glossy accents is becoming my new "go-to" scrap item!My next layout - "Snow Cream" - is also for Blake's album. It's rare that we get a big enough snow to make this treat, so I had to document the historical moment in a layout. I used four different patterned papers, the elements stickers, and the alphabet sheet. I added some Jillibean Soup corrugated alphas and pop dots. The journaling card was cut from a 12x12 sheet of paper from the kit.

I backed my "snow" sticker with patterned paper and cut around it before adhering with pop dots. I am really liking the look of titles with "mats."

And, once again, I got out my Glossy Accents.Be sure to check out what Crop Chocolate has to offer daily!