Show & Tell

While straightening up my scrap area last week, I noticed I have a LOT of "kit" (coordinated line) bags with photos tossed inside. I don't want to forget about these photos, so I need to make a point to scrap with them. Often once I start with a kit bag, I like to scrap with it until it's gone.

I used my bag of We R Memory Keeper's "Show & Tell" products over the summer after I first received them with my design team supplies from Scrappin' {Sports} Stuff. I made several layouts I loved then, but then moved on to a new line/batch of photos and didn't get back to WRMK.

My first new layout actually used brand new photos! These were from earlier this month when I went to school with Kevin for Muffins for Mom. The best part was that it was ON HIS BIRTHDAY! He was so excited. It was a special morning for us both. Since my mind was thinking what a special time we had, I included the tag from the line, but cut the tag "loop" off and just used it as a die cut complete with brad center. Of course, I had to mix up my title!

The photo for "writing in recess" isn't great. Ok, it's not even good. But, it's the only one I have of Blake writing a letter to a special teacher at the end of 5th grade. I loved how the ruled die cut paper gave me plenty of room to tell my story. Afterall, that's why I scrapbook - to get these stories down for my boys to remember. I thought the row of apples were too cute. I cut an extra one out and popped it up with pop dots. Blake may never notice that little touch, but it made me smile. :)

I didn't have many good shots of the actual "graduation" for 5th grade. The gym is the worst place in the world for photographs! I did have a good shot of the screen when they flashed Blake's "then & now" shots. (He was just under 2 in the "then" shot.) I also had four others that could be cropped down a bit and still tell my story.I purposely went with a ruled background paper so I'd have a lot of room to list the awards Blake received at the ceremony. There were several. We are so proud of him!I didn't mix up my title on this one too much. I did overlap my letters a bit though. "Time 2 Say Goodbye" was a fun layout to plan. It reminded me of that day when Blake wanted to get photos with these teachers and staff members that had meant so much to him. The 5th grade has four teachers that you see for different subjects, so he spent time with all of them. I also have photos with the principal, music teacher, PE teacher, my aunt the office clerk, and the library aide who was a special friend the whole time Blake was at the school. I decided to overlap my Thickers for the title again. I think this year I have scrapped more school layouts than ever. There are just so many great lines that have been released this year. Plus, the boys' school stories are some of the best ones that I have to share. I still have some of this WRMK line, but I still have several other school lines still in my stash.

Speaking of school...it's the last day before Thanksgiving break. Yay!!!

New Scrappin' {Sports} Stuff Projects to share...

A couple weeks ago, I did some serious sorting in my scrap area. I had a few baskets of "things to scrap" piling up. A lot of it was memorabilia and team and class portraits. I took a recent order from Scrappin' {Sports} Stuff and created a couple simple layouts using the boys' class portraits mixed in with some memorabilia I'd saved from the same year. There's nothing fancy about them and they were quick to complete. The school themed products made it easy to document special memories for my boys.

I also realized I have a growing collection of Cub Scout photos to scrap! Lucky for me Scrappin' {Sports} Stuff carries a large selection of Cub Scout themed products. This "Ready Set Go!" Pinewood Derby paper really didn't need any embellishing. I just needed to crop and add photos.

I have already received a new order from Scrappin' {Sports} and can't wait to get started with projects using the Teresa Collins "Family" line of papers.

Noel Mignon "Core Curriculum" Projects

I have been happily scrapping with my new kit. Yesterday I noticed there was even a Back To School challenge on the Noel Mignon Challenge Blog.

For this challenge, I completed a simple page made into a folder to hold certificates and awards for Blake's album. Everything on this page is from the Core Curriculum kit except for the Thickers. A Melissa Frances tag/envelope booklet was included with my kit. I loved it, but wasn't sure what to do with it until I saw this project on the Noel Mignon Layouts and Projects blog. Wow!The first three envelopes were shown on the blog and I pretty much lifted the cover and October pages exactly. I have the same general LO for September, but used the book page for my background. For the other pages, I just tried to be creative. All of the papers and most of the embellishments were included in the kit. I had to add ribbon and misc. embellishments here and there. I also got some good use out of alphabet stash. I also decided to paint the envelopes before I covered them with paper. I loved Noel's idea to use the tags throughout the year with a photo on one side and journaling on the other. With two boys in school though, I may use smaller photos and dedicate one side of each tag to one of my boys to document the hightlights of their school year.

I'm really happy with my new projects!

1st day of school and a new kit, too!

Today was the boys first day of school. Yes, August 5. Hard to believe. Since Blake started school here, they've always started in the middle of the first week of August.

We found out last week at Open House that the boys would have a new bus driver this year - Kevin's 3rd in as many years! The route looked the same, so I assumed the bus would run at the same time as last year. I always get them out the door a little early on the first day to take pictures and also "just in case" the bus runs early.

First, I took the annual shot in front of the front door. I like to see how the kids grow each year and also from the first to last day of school. I always take a full body shot and a close up. They were laughing really hard this year, but it made for some genuine smiles. We were extra early to wait this year. We ended up with a lot of time to kill. I got two invitations to the gun show. No, there's rarely a dull moment with these two!

Tom encouraged the boys to go to the end of the driveway to wait. They waited a few minutes and then broke out into dance... Then Kevin realized he didn't have his glasses!!! I guess we got used to how he looked the first 7 years he DIDN'T wear glasses. Four months later, sometimes we don't notice if he's not wearing them. Luckily, I had time to run in and get them. And clean them.

The bus was still no where in sight, so I took another photo so Kevin's glasses would be included.

The house was QUIET today! The USPS paid me a visit with my Personal Scrapper August kit. I had time to break into it and create a layout even! I completely scraplifted a layout by design team member Heidi/anbzmom. I loved her LO which also used sports photos of her two boys. I'm always inspired by her sports pages.

This afternoon the bus finally returned to drop of my boys. They were both smiling. Both had a great day. Blake, especially, can't wait to go back tomorrow!

I think it's going to be a good year!