American Crafts Challenge

This week I made a simple thank you card for the American Crafts challenge, using fun rubons. I love the house one. I don't often make cards, unless for a specific occasion, so this was fun to do just 'cause. I was thinking it might work well to use it as a thank you to someone who will host me at their house later this year.

Product used:

American Crafts: Vacuum Accents Mini Marks, IM Phrases Mini Marks

American Crafts: Dear Lizzy Crocheted Flowers

Ten on Tuesday

1) Four square always puts a smile on my face.

2) Glee? Glee, where are you?

3) I love a good road trip.

4) Has anyone else seen Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution? I've been thinking a lot lately about food and trying to be better about what I choose to eat, reducing the amount of processed foods I ingest. It's hard.

5) I'm thinking about signing up for a CSA. I love the idea of getting a box of fresh veggies every week from a local farm.

6) I am loving these pages.

7) March will go down in history as the first March ever with no snow. Crazy.

8) I want this.

9) I watched Parenthood for the first time. I liked it.

10) I'm feeling under the weather. I hope to bounce back soon.

My Weekend

This weekend my nieces and I went a mini road trip to my parent's house. We do this at least once a year and we always have a blast! Thanks to my nieces for being awesome travel companions and to my parents for being wonderful hosts. Here is a recap in pictures.

Flashback Fridays

No real story this week, just a few photos I really like. I always enjoy looking at the backgrounds in the photos and remembering what furniture used to be in our house and what items still remain. Enjoy and have a great weekend!

November '79: My big brother being pesky. He stole my coveted blanket and I was attempting to get it back. He looks pretty determined, doesn't he?

Circa 1981: There aren't a whole lot of pictures of just my Mom and I while I was growing up, so that's why I like this one.

Circa 1983: I love this picture of my Grandma and I laughing it up. Don't you like the disembodied arm?

American Crafts Challenge

This week's American Crafts challenge is to use two or more green products. I created a layout from my day out with my niece for her birthday. We had an excellent time! The banners are popular right now, so I thought I would try it out too. It was fun to make.

I used papers from the Letterbox and Blue Skies lines. I love these papers! A layout isn't complete without Thickers and some Flair too. There are so many new lines at American Crafts. I can't wait when I have some time to shop! I'd like to get products from the Dear Lizzy line in particular. Thanks for looking!

Product used:

American Crafts Letterbox and Blue Skies patterned papers

American Crafts Telegram Flair

American Crafts Rockabye Thickers

Martha Stewart Baker's Twine

Crate Paper Season Collection rub ons

Hambly rub on

Share and Tell Journaling Card

Happy Tape

Ten on Tuesday (well Wednesday)

1) My niece and I had a fantastic time on our day out together for her birthday. We went on a real adventure at Magi Quest.

2) I got a wonderful, long email from a friend who I don't see often enough. I miss her. I"m waiting to hear when a new addition arrives in her family.

3) I had another delicious meal this weekend made by my sister; filet mignon, new potatoes, broccoli, crusty bread and red wine. Yum!

4) I took a long walk around a local lake, soaking in the sun, catching up with a friend who shared awesome news. Congrats Heidi!

5) My niece drew a portrait of herself and it was chosen to be part of an art show! I'm so proud of her.

6) Even though I don't look good in yellow, I plan to wear it a lot this spring and summer. Love it!

7) I'm thinking of signing up for this class.

8) I've been seeing Liberty of London for Target all over blogland. I went this weekend to check it out and my size was sold out of everything!

9) I'm trying to be patient with people who don't deserve my patience.

10) Is it spring break yet?

A New Year, A New Album

When I first started scrapbooking, I focused on documenting my nieces' lives. I was a chronological scrapper too. I couldn't scrap Christmas until I scrapped Thanksgiving and so on. But a few years ago, I switched gears. I started creating pages for myself. A novel idea, I know. I created pages that were a summary of each month and I continue to do that to this day. I also create other pages for myself, highlighting where I'm at now, what I'm up to, what I'm thinking about, what I'm enjoying, etc. I've also started creating pages for my faraway nephew and niece. I am still "behind" on scrapping for my nieces, but I try not to let that bother me too much.

So, with a new year, I have a new album to hold all the pages I make for myself. This year, I purchased an American Crafts binder album, with 12x12 page protectors and 12x12 protectors with 6-4x6 photo pockets. I find that in my previous albums I'm not able to include as many photos as I'd like.

Here's a look at the album and January and February pages. I don't choose a photo for the front until the end of the year.

Here's a look at the January spread. The layout is on the left hand side and the right hand side holds a selection of photos from the month.

Here's my page for February. I really like using an old typewriter for my journaling.

and a close up.

The day I met...

As many of you know, I have 3 nieces and 1 nephew. I thought it would be fun to revisit the day I met each of them.

Miss M was the first born in the family. I waited and waited for her arrival. I was so excited to meet her. I was in college at the time and when I got the call, I immediately went to see her. She was so small and she smelled wonderful. I made a promise to myself that I would be a part of her life; that I would make knowing her a priority. She changed my life forever.

The second born was Little D. She was born on a frigid day. M and I were together when my brother-in-law called with the news. We did a happy baby dance and practiced holding and feeding a baby doll. We met her the next day. She was so precious. It was so cute to see M holding her, being the big sis. We knew early on that she was a cuddler. She still is. It's amazing how much capacity we have to love.

The third born is my only nephew, S. They don't live here, so we all went to meet him together. It was hard to wait a few weeks! He was such a sweetie. I'm always amazed how small they are. We stayed a few days during that trip, and then a month later, my Mom and I went back for a week. I'm so glad we did this. We were able to get to know him better and hold him for as long as we wanted. I'm sad we live so far apart, but I'm happy that we get to see each other as often as we do. I make every effort to see him on his birthday and I take care of him and (now his sister too) when his parents travel.

The last born is Miss A, the baby of the family. Like me. We all traveled to see her too. She was so beautiful. Everyone wanted to hold her. When I finally got the chance, she was wide awake, looking around and smiling. I remember when my niece first saw her, she said her heart was going to burst. I couldn't say it any better.

For each new miracle, I made the same promise to myself that I did with my first niece; that I would make knowing each of them a priority. I'm so glad I did. I've said this before, but they are 4 of the coolest people I know.

Now, when we all get together it's such a joy to watch the cousins play together. We might go months without seeing each other, but it doesn't matter. They always pick up where they left off. I have a great family!

Mini-albums: Day 3

Today is the third and final mini album I'll be sharing this week. It's one of the first minis I created. It's from my trip to NYC. The album is 7 Gypsies. I'm afraid I don't remember what travel kit I used. The album is very simple. I included basic journaling of what we did each day. The pockets hold additional photos. Looking back at it, I'd be interested in making another album of the trip with more detail or maybe several 12x12 pages. I loved NYC! Definitely on my list for a return trip.

Thanks for looking at my minis this week. I hope you've enjoyed seeing all the different options available for documenting your trips. There's no right or wrong way. Choose just a journal or a photo album with some basic journaling or an album with more journaling and paper and other scrappy goodness, or some entirely different way. Just document the story, that's the important part.

Here it is:

Mini-albums: Day 2

To continue with mini album week, I want to share my album I created for my trip to Seattle. I used an acrylic album, which I painted green. I liked this type of album. I'm not much of a painter, so this was fun to try. The paper and embellishments are all American Crafts. I also, like the album for D.C., used tickets and other pieces of memorabilia on the pages. Because it's a smaller album, I added pages to the inside for journaling. We saw and did so much that I didn't want to forget any of it. It was an amazing trip! Seattle and Mt. Rainier are beautiful places.

Here it is:

Ten on Tuesday

1) The weather has been wonderful here the past few days! Windows open wide! Spring, I welcome you with open arms.

2) I wish I had a personal chef. I've moved past buttered noodles and cook more than I ever used to, but I'd still prefer someone prepare my meals for me.

3) I saw Wynton Marsalis and his band in concert. He's an amazing trumpet player! I also loved the bass player, Carlos Henriquez. Being a string player myself, I was impressed with his quick finger work.

4) I realized I had a period of time during college that I didn't journal and I missed documenting some very important events. I'm frustrated with myself that I don't have a record.

5) I don't particularly like springing ahead.

6) I've been contemplating a lot lately. Along with a personal chef, I wish I had a personal decider.

7) I'm thinking about my next trip. I need to plan something.

8) I listened to MPRs Midday program from today. Robert Glennon, author of "Water Follies" and "Unquenchable: America's Water Crisis and What to Do About It" was the guest. There was a lot of surprising information. It's worth a listen.

9) I did a major spring cleaning this weekend. I found that I have consumed more than I intended. I want to throw away less. I need to be more aware of what I'm buying. I hate that I'm contributing to our landfills. I need to lessen my carbon footprint.

10) I had a lovely family dinner on Sunday evening. My sister made roast beef dinner. Delicious. My niece and I also started to plan our day out together for her birthday. I'm looking forward to it.

Mini-albums: Day 1

This week I'm going to share several mini-albums that I've made. I've been lucky enough to travel to great cities over the last several years. I make mini-albums to capture my adventures. Mini-albums are perfect for events or trips or for anything that you want that focuses on one topic. They are small and less overwhelming than a full 12 x 12 page/album can be. The downside is there isn't a lot of room for journaling. I do also keep a separate journal with more details from each trip.

This year I traveled to D.C. It was jam packed! So much to see and do and we hardly made a dent. It was hard to decide what to highlight, but I'm pleased with how it turned out.

I used a chipboard album and a travel kit from Little Yellow Bicycle. I loved this kit. I showcased one day on each two page spread and it worked wonderfully.

Here are some of the pages. You can see the rest at my Two Peas account. Click on the link on the right hand side bar. Thanks for looking!