Catching up...

When I last straightened up my scrap area, I realized I had several "kit bags" with photos inside waiting to be scrapped. I used to do that often - toss pics inside kit bags that I wanted to pair them with. But, then I get busy and forget about them!

I pulled the kits with photos out and set them aside together with the intention of scrapping with them. And so that sat...

Until last week when I finally decided to start using them. Now.

Here are a few of the early results...

I had Echo Park's "Splash" line from last summer (or earlier???) with pics from our Great Wolf Lodge trip in '10.

While I had this line out, I realized a couple recent pics would work with it, so...

I created this layout with pics of Rhett's first swim. I was working and my sister was nice enough to invite the boys over to swim. I lifted a layout by Kimber McGray in CK's Simple Scrapbooks idea book.

I also pulled out my bag of the Countryside line by Studio Calico. I remember being so excited about this line when I purchased in (in March '11!). I guess I was "saving" it???

Oh well, it worked great with the Band of Horses concert photos I had tossed in the bag.

I miss my sister, Kaitlin, but am glad to have these pics scrapped.

And, there are plenty more bags with photos ready to scrap...

More 35mm with Studio Calico...

When I pick up a new order of photos, I am inspired to scrapbook. I was happy to find that a lot of my recent photos paired nicely with the May Studio Calico kit - 35mm.

These pics that Kevin took himself with Reese and Rhett are some of my recent favorites. I was inspired by a layout in the new Creating Keepsakes idea book Simple Scrapbooks. The layout was by Nicole Harper (page 12).

I had to scrap my Mother's Day breakfast that Blake made for me. This layout was inspired by a sketch by Laura Vegas on page 19 of the same Simple Scrapbooks idea book.

This simple layout was inspired by a Linda Barber layout on page 26 of the same idea book. The pics are of my boys acting crazy at dinner after a ball tournament. I had to convert them to b/w since they were laughing so hard, the pics were a bit blurry!

I took a Heidi Swapp flip book apart to make individual sheets behind my photos on this page. I also added some SC wood veneer stars and a chipboard alpha. Blake's mohawk started out as a joke, but stuck around for about a week. He's thinking about going back to it.

My Mother's Day layout was inspired by Kim Jackson's layout on page 54 of Simple Scrapbooks. I added some SC chipboard alphas, Thickers from an older kit, and Queen & Co. washi tape.

Blake came home from school with a nasty cut on his ankle. Of course I had to scrap it! I scraplifted Kelly Purkey's layout on page 44 of the CK idea book Simple Scrapbooks. Added some OLD Thickers, twine, a Jillibean sticker and the numbers cut from a SC advertisement card in a kit.

I also have one project that I finished with the March kit, Story Hour...

Blake will be the first to tell you that he isn't artistic. So...it was big news when he came home from school with an amazing art project for which he earned an A!!!

Needless to say, I am enjoying my summer vacation from school!

So proud of our son...

Every day I amazed by our boys. Sometimes it could be because of something they do, and other days it might just be from looking at them and realizing how proud I am of the young men they are becoming.

Recently, Blake has been working really hard on his Eagle project. This week he mailed out his fundraising letters. I am proud of him for deciding on a project that is important to him. Last month Blake's Troop held their Court of Honor (awards ceremony). Blake was awarded his merit badges and also recognized for earning his Life Scout advancement. He presented me with my mother's pin for Life Scout.

When I had my pictures printed, I couldn't wait to scrap them. I know my next mother's pin will be even more special.

For this layout, I used my March Studio Calico kit - Story Hour. I added some Studio Calico alphas and kraft stars that weren't included in the kit. My layout was inspired by a page by Megan Hoeppner in Creating Keepsakes' new idea book Simple Scrapbooks.

With Blake's Eagle project in sight, I realize I need to get caught up on scrapping his other scouting memories! Time is sure flying by.

Simple Scrapbooks...

I used to subscribe to Simple Scrapbooks magazine years ago. I admit, I was really sad to see it go. In between tournament games a couple weeks ago, I was excited to see that Creating Keepsakes magazine had released an idea book called Simple Scrapbooks. I quickly flipped through the magazine and realized that I loved many of the layouts and could use it as inspiration to jump start my scrapbooking.

And that is just what I did on Memorial Day!

"From: Wendy" was inspired by Lydia Jackson's layout on page 76. I used my March '12 "Story Hour" kit from Studio Calico to make this page. That kit had some of the best embellishments! It was really fun to use.

As we pulled into the subdivision one night, Kevin rolled his window down and started goofing off by acting like he was a dog. Not sure why? Of course, since I wasn't driving I snapped pics of it and had to scrap them. I used the same "Story Hour" kit for this layout that was inspired by Wendy Sue Anderson's layout on page 18.

I pulled out Studio Calico's older "Elementary" line to scrap my photos of Kevin's academic team event. This layout isn't inspired by any one particular page in the book, but many. I liked the photo placement on a 2-pager and used it as a jumping off point for my single page layout. After seeing so many things I liked throughout the book, I think I was able to pull bits and pieces from many layouts while they were fresh in my mind.

My Easter layout is a lift of Kim Watson's layout on page 25. I just made a few adjustments since I used 3 larger photos than the four she used. I also added a banner. I wish I had used Prima ink instead of mist on my "Easter" alpha stickers. I think it would have matched better and left a cleaner finish. I used Studio Calico's "35mm" kit.

I loved the simplicity of Jamie Harper's layout on page 10. I had some pics from last fall when my nephew was born that I loved, but the colors in the photos were a crazy mix. I selected soft simple patterns for my page using my SC "35mm" kit, but felt that it was missing something. Finally, I decided to add a berry colored sticker to back my title since it matched the top center photo. To repeat the color again, I used it to color the sticker letters for "visit."
And that was my Memorial Day!

Working with Studio Calico...

We had a rare school year this past year - NO SNOW DAYS! Does that ever happen??? We were finished with school on May 16. Let summer vacation begin!

I started my vacation scrapping with random Studio Calico...

I continued using my sketches from the online class I took - Sketchbook 4. I used the May 35mm kit to finish this layout of my nephew, Rhett. I actually used my LEAST favorite paper and cardstock, but with his pics, was able to make a layout I adore. I was inspired by Vee Jenning's take on the sketch.

I was inspired by Jennifer McGuire's take on Sketch 11 for my next layout of Reese enjoying her strawberries. I used the Candy Shoppe kit from February '11.

Using pics from the same visit with Reese and Rhett, I continued working with the Candy Shoppe kit and Kelly Noel's take on Sketch 3.

While I had Candy Shoppe out on my table, I pulled out some photos from Valentine's Day to make a layout documenting Kevin's big Valentine gift from his "girlfriend" this year.

Next, I decided I needed to get this year's school portraits scrapped, too. (I get two 8x10s - just in case!) I used Studio Calico's "old" Elementary line for these two layouts.

While I was pulling out older kits/supplies, I reached for the July '11 "Mind the Gap" kit to work with some Scout photos.

I will go back and journal on this one for Blake. And here's one for Kevin...

I picked up a new idea book while we were killing time between games at our last baseball tournament. It gave me more inspiration and I have a lot more layouts to share. Later...

City of Lights...

No, I've never been to Paris, but I sure did enjoy working with Studio Calico's April Kit "City of Lights" - it was amazing! I actually enjoyed using sequins and butterflies if you can believe it. And I stamped!

The first layout I made was for Kevin's album. I was inspired by the bikes on one paper to pull out pics from this spring of him riding his bike while I walked.

In April, I also signed up for an online class at Studio Calico - Sketchbook 4 by Kelly Purkey. It was the BEST online class  I have ever taken. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday I could access a PDF that included a sketch, plus three different takes on the sketch.

For sketch 1, I completed the following layouts:

Here are my takes on Sketch 2:

Sketch 3...

Sketch 4...

Sketch 6...

Sketch 7...

Sketch 8...

And with that, I officially "killed" my April kit from Studio Calico!

Simple layouts for Scrappin' {Sports} Stuff

I look forward to my monthly design team shipment from Scrappin' {Sports} Stuff every month! However, I usually have more product than I can use in one month. Last week I pulled out some of my "leftovers" and started creating.

First, I used the new Tiny Woods line by Kaisercraft. I scrapped a couple photos of our fine dining experience in our own backyard in April. the boys love to build fires, so roasting hotdogs and s'mores is a much requested dinner option now!

I also scrapped Kevin's new class photo. We don't frame them, but just keep them in his scrapbook. I try to scrap them soon after he brings them home so they don't get damaged. I used Game Day Chili by Jillibean Soup for this layout. It's one of my favorite new lines.

A new shipment just arrived from SSS yesterday. I see some Scout layouts in my future...