Why Now - Week 34

My last Zig Zag Scrap challenge for the month is finally complete. I barely got my layout done in time, but I did it - woo hoo! It was a personal goal for me to try to complete a few store challenges since I have so many digital kits. And, I haven't used many of them yet!

This layout is documenting Week 34, which was pretty stressful when the munchkin got sick while I was on deadline.

CREDITS

Papers: Quirky (Like Me) (2am Designs);

Embellishments: Quirky (Like Me) (2am Designs); Today and Here There (Studio 68)

Fonts: For the One Hundredth Time (title); KG Seven Sixteen (journaling, date)

Template: Inspired by Amanda 3 (Moments of Harmony)

Also, in reading through the stack of emails in my Inbox, I noticed that my layout was pictured in this week's Zig Zag Scraps newsletter! How cool is that!  :D

Our Yellow "Convertible"

One more challenge down at Zig Zag Scrap! This time I captured something we started last summer - going for strolls in the yellow jogging stroller I received as a baby gift from my family.

Since the weather is pretty dicey here most of the year, I've only used it a few months out of the year. Besides, the munchkin couldn't fit into it until he was almost 6 months old, lol. This is the coolest stroller ever - for me, at least. It even has built in speakers, which I have yet to try out. Yes, it's one sweet ride - especially for the little guy!

CREDITS

Papers: Summer Lovin Collab (ZZS Designers); Here There (Studio 68)

Embellishments: Here There and Today (Studio 68); Summer Lovin Collab (ZZS Designers)

Fonts: Luckiest Guy (title); Digs My Hart (title, journaling, date)

Template: Inspired by Amanda 2 (Bethany Nicks, Moments Scrapped)

Tuesday Marketplace

The other evening, we did one of my favorite summer things: going to Tuesday Marketplace.

Amy and I usually walk at least one Tuesday evening with the munchkin to the Marketplace and meet up with our other friends. We hadn't done it all summer, and this past Tuesday was the last one. Luckily, the weather was perfect, so we headed downtown.

I remembered to snap a couple of photos - sometimes I get caught up in all the socializing, so I forget. I love that we have these to remember the evening!

CREDITS
Papers: Summer Bucket List (Amber Clegg, Emily Merritt, Karah Fredricks, Rachel Young)

Embellishments: Summer Bucket List (Rachel Young, Karah Fredricks, Kaye Winiecki, Amy Wolff, Sabrina Lopez Dupre, Little Butterfly Wings)

Fonts: For the One Hundredth Time (title); KG Seven Sixteen (journaling)

Template: Sahlin Studio

6 Months

Another "old" photo (2011 - haha!) and moment captured!

Love this template!

CREDITS

Papers: After the Rain (Micheline Martin); Summer Bucket List (Amy Wolff, Amber Clegg, Michelle Godin, Karah Fredricks); You Were My Wish (Lauren Grier)

Embellishments: Holiday Mixed Media (Sahlin Studio); Summer Bucket List (Amber Clegg, Gina Miller, Kim Jensen, Sahlin Studio, Kaye Wieniecki); I Heart You (Michelle Godin); You Were My Wish (Lauren Grier); Glitz Stitch (Vicki Stegall);

Fonts: Courier New (journaling, date)

Template:  The Lilypad August 2012 Template Challenge (Amy Martin)

Once Upon A Time

It's almost the end of August, and one of my goals was to try to get a few monthly challenges done at Zig Zag Scrap. Tonight, I had a chance to complete another layout, for 3 out of 5! This one is for the Product Challenge, which was to use stitching.

CREDITS
Papers: That Unforgettable Moment (2am Designs)
Embellishments: Today (Studio 68); Quirky (Like Me) and That Unforgettable Moment (2am Designs); Assorted Messy Stitches: Brown No. 2 (Katie Pertiet)
Fonts: Berlin Sans (title); Times New Roman (journaling, date)
Template: Big Bang 1 (Lifescapes)

Easter Photo Shoot

The monthly template challenge at Sahlin Studio has been on my list since the first week of August, yet I only managed to complete it today during the munchkin's nap times, lol.

This template was a bit of a challenge for me, with all the different elements that were involved. But, I finally ended up with something that I was happy with. I'm working backwards on my photos, starting to scrap the baby pics from 2011. These were from a photo shoot I did for Easter 2011. I forgot how much more cooperative he was at that age when it came to doing a photo shoot. He used to smile on cue, but now, he turns his head and starts to run away, lol. Maybe I've scarred him for life? ;)

CREDITS

Papers: Explore Learn Grow, So This Is Love, Enjoy the Moment, Vintage Carnival, and Fleetwood (Sahlin Studio)

Embellishments:  Holiday Mixed Media, Sweet Storytelling, Sunshine Sticker Alpha, Country Fair Picnic, A Story Friend, Rejuvenate, Subtle Stamp Alpha, So Grateful, and Play (Sahlin Studio); Wishy Washi – Eclectic Set 1 (Splendid Fiins); In the Moment (Audrey Neal)

Fonts: Wish I Were Taller (title); Digs My Hart (journaling)

Template:  August 2012 Template Challenge (Sahlin Studio)

Real Life Scrapped Standouts

Woo hoo! Just posted my first blog posting for Real Life Scrapped! Check out the Standouts for August 28th!

And a quick question for all of you - do you like washi tape on your layouts? If so, why? And do you have any favorite examples you'd like to share?

A Hip-Hopping Monday!

Yes, I realize the title says Monday, and today is Tuesday. I may be tired (another late night with the munchkin), but I am awake enough to realize what day it is.  :)   I just didn't have time yesterday to write up a blog post. So, here it is for today!

Yesterday was quite a whirlwind for me. I got a terrific email on Monday morning informing me that I was selected to be part of the Real Life Scrapped team! Woo hoo! I was so excited, I could barely get anything done! I will be writing blog posts and get to be part of the whole RLS community - CANNOT wait! In fact, my first RLS blog post should be going live sometime today. I spent yesterday looking over the RLS Facebook page and asking questions from other team members. The team was so welcoming - I can't wait to work with them!

On top of that news, I also found out that the  layout I posted on Sunday (My Little Old Man) won in the Design House Digital's 4 Play Challenge last week! (The blurb is at the end of the blog post - I almost missed it!)

I love the fact that I'm having so much fun with scrapping. It's been my saving grace during these tough months, despite the fact that I've had to sacrifice a little more sleep just to do it.

Okay, now I'm off to go do some research and writing before munchkin wakes up. I'll be back again VERY soon! Have a great day!

High School Pictures

Gina Cabrera at Digital Design Elements offered a free template this weekend that is very old school.  :)  As a matter of fact, that's the name of her template and new kit collection! And here is what I did with it.

It was fun to take a look back at my old class photos. Embarrassing, but fun, lol! I know I have more, but I think they are still waiting to be scanned. Another project to add to my scrapping list...

CREDITS

Template: Old School (Gina Cabrera)

Papers:  Beyond Measure and Old School (Gina Cabrera)

Embellishments: BeyondMeasure, Everyday Life and Live Free (Gina Cabrera)

Fonts: Gnuolane (title); Franklin Gothic Medium (labels); Shelter Me (journaling)

My Little Old Man

This is one of my favorite photos. I made a layout for my Project Life album, but I also wanted to do a digital version. And, with the help of this week's 4 Play Challenge at Design House Digital, I had time to throw this together this morning.

CREDITS

Papers: Newsprint (Shannon Hegarty)

Embellishments: IconicElements (Audrey Neal); Muse Alphabets (Karla Dudley); Elemental Frames (Gennifer Bursett)

Font: Shelter Me

I can't believe how fast this weekend is flying by! Gotta rush off to do a few things...

Lil Biker

As soon as I saw the new collection Pedal Pusher from One Little Bird, I thought of some old pictures of my nephew learning to ride a bike. These photos were sent to my mom, and I borrowed them at some point to scan them, as well as the captions written on the back by my sister-in-law.

I really wanted to include the notes from my sister-in-law since she passed in May 1989. So I used her written scans as the journaling for this layout. I decided to "tape" her handwritten notes onto the journal card. The journaling reads: "Just after he learned to ride without training wheels." And she put his name, date, and age (5 1/2 years) in the upper right corner.

I can finally add this to my family scrapbook!

CREDITS

Papers: Craft time for Boys (Juliana Kneipp); Annino Solids (Michelle Martin)

Embellishments: PedalPusher (One Little Bird); Wishy Washi - Eclectic Set 1 (Splendid Fiins)

Template: PressPlate No. 15  (Paislee Press)

Visiting Japan

I have waited 20 years to scrap these photos from my visit to Japan. Truthfully, it's not exactly what I had in mind when I decided to put these in a scrapbook. I was going to do the traditional route, including bits and pieces picked up during my travel. I can still do that - once I find where I stashed all the mementos I collected! (I've moved a few times in 20 years...)

In the meantime, the photos were available because I had scanned them quite a few years ago. But they sat on my hard drive, just waiting for me to DO something with them. And now, here they are.

A two-page digital layout highlighting my trip to Japan. It seems so, so...small. But, at least I can get the guilt of not doing anything with them off my shoulders.

One thing I ran into while I was trying to scrapbook this was the lack of Japanese embellishments available. I ended up having to find stuff on the Internet, but even then, it was hard to find anything that was scrap-ready. 

CREDITS

Papers: Kokeshi (Samantha Walker)

Embellishments: Anemone flowers and gingko leaves (downloaded from Internet); Taste of Asia  - Japanese maple leaf and flag (Britt-ish Designs and Sahlin Studio); Nostalgia – ticket (Yoshiko Utsunomiya); This & Thats – blue tickets (The Tattered Pear)

Stitching: In Stitches – Red & Cream (Robyn Meierotto)

Mask: Scalloped Strip (Katie Pertiet)

Template: Press Plate No. 27 (Paislee Press)

Fonts: Karate (title); Century Gothic (date); KG Seven Sixteen (journaling)

I also scrapped one of the photos from Japan with a quick page that I found on Two Peas in a Bucket. There really wasn't any room for this photo on the two-page layout, so I figured taking a shortcut for this one wasn't too bad.

CREDITS:

Template/Quick Page: World Traveler (Sande Krieger)

Font: Baby Boston

Maybe these two layouts aren't exactly what I had in mind, but at least I know that I've captured the moment!

The Finish - DigiDare Challenge #289

The DigiDare Challenge for this week was about sports - hating them, loving them. I thought about this challenge for a few days, trying to decide what point in my life to tackle. Considering I'm not an athlete, I don't have a lot of sports photos. But then I decided to go ahead and try the dare anyway, focusing more on capturing feelings. I'll admit most of my effort went into the journaling for this particular layout.

The journaling reads:

"I've always disliked running. Yet, at 30-something, I suddenly decided to train for a marathon. I have no idea what I was thinking. All I knew was that I wanted to get in shape, and the only way I would ever run a marathon was if I trained with a team. So, in April 2008, I took my friend Elaina to a Team In Training meeting held on the Nike campus, and we ended up signing ourselves up for our first marathon in San Francisco in Oct. 2008. 5 months to train to run 26.2 miles (gulp!). That was one of the craziest moments of my life.

On the first day of training in May, I almost quit because I couldn’t run half a block. I was in tears by the end of the first block. I felt like a failure. But Elaina kept me from quitting. We trained for the next 5 months, in rain and unbelievable heat, up and down hilly streets in Portland and Vancouver, across flat stretches that went on for miles and miles. About 2 months into training, when we were starting to run half marathons (anything over 13.1 miles), I developed pain in my left foot. I went to a chiropractor, used inserts in my shoes, did special exercises, and iced, but the pain kicked in every time I ran over 13 miles. Yet, with the encouragement of my teammates and my own determination, I kept at it. The longest training run we had was 21 miles, and I didn’t even complete it since my foot was hurting so bad, the coach pulled me off our training course. 

When it came to race day., I was so scared I wouldn’t make it to the end. But somehow, even with the pain that was unbearable around mile 21 and had me in tears, I couldn’t give up. I had come so far to do this, trained for so many months, and I was going to finish, even if I had to crawl across the finish line.

And I did finish. I even ran across the finish line."

CREDITS

Template: Flight Plan 5 (One Little Bird)

Papers: Scenes from Real Life (One Little Bird); Here There (Studio 68)

Embellishments: That Unforgettable Moment (2am Designs); Here There and Today (Studio 68); Scenes from Real Life (One Little Bird)

Fonts: KG Seven Sixteen (journaling); Capture It 2 (title)

At the Beach

Happy Monday! The weather is beautiful outside - sunny (after the clouds burned off) and temps going into the high 70s. I love this kind of summer. I don't do hot very well.  ;)

This past weekend, I met up with my brother and his brood at the beach. He lives out in the Chicago area, so I don't see him often. I actually see his daughters more than him since they are all located in the Pacific Northwest. Anyway, I got a terrific family portrait of them (minus one of my nieces and a couple husbands). I really love this photo, so I had to scrap it!

CREDITS:

Papers: Splendid (Sara Schmutz)

Embellishments: Life Is An Adventure (Jenn Barrette); WhenSkies Are Grey (Gennifer Bursett); Nautical (Celeste Knight); Dad Rawks (Mari Koegelenberg); Retrosweets (Paula Kesselring); Scenes From Real Life (OneLittle Bird Designs)

Font: KG Seven Sixteen

Cool Summer Treat

Completed another template challenge, this one at Zig Zag Scraps. I love this template and can't wait to try another photo/topic.

This photo was taken in late July to help celebrate National Ice Cream month. Now who wouldn't want to partake in that?!? ;)




CREDITS

Template: ZZSAugust Template Challenge (Ellen T)

Papers: Today (Studio 68)

Embellishments: Today (Studio 68); Quirky (2am Designs)

Alphabet: HereThere (Studio 68)

Font: SNF Miss Molly

Delivery!

I love getting packages like this - more page protectors for Project Life!

Right Now - DigiDare #288

I don't always remember to scrapbook the small moments. On DigiDares, this week's challenge is to focus on the "Right Now." I decided to capture a moment of this past Monday afternoon.

The must-haves...

Dare flair:
*Take a photo of either your surroundings in general or a specific object that fits your journaling and include it UNEDITED in your layout. You can crop it, but that’s it!
*Include at least one doodled element
*Make sure you date your layout – put the date on a tab or a label
*Include at least 3 ribbons on your layout
*Of course, include your journaling!

The journaling reads:

Right now, sitting in this chair,

I hear the music from “The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland”

I see Nicholas sitting on the couch with Clifford the Big Red Dog

I smell cool air

I am wearing a yellow t-shirt and khaki shorts

I want mint chocolate chip ice cream and to scrapbook

I need a nap!

I wish the house were organized and clean

I am worried about finding a job

I am planning several scrapbook layouts

I am happy about the sun shining today

I am thankful for having air conditioning on a hot day!

CREDITS:
Papers: Fleetwood, Enjoy the Moment, and Explore Learn Grow (Sahlin Studios); Splendid (Sara Schmutz); Glitterati (Betsy Tuma); Snowfall Cranberry – Dasher  and Julia – Perhaps (Basic Grey); Sock Monkey (Lynn Grieveson); Bubbly (Designs by Dawn); Houndstooth Trio (Christine Chodil); Zoey (Shannon Hegarty)

Embellishments: This & Thats and This & Thats 2 (The Tattered Pear); Atomic Cool and Wrapped Up in You, Boy (Bella Gypsy); This Is My Story (Little Butterfly Wings); I’ll Love You Forever and Sweet Storytelling (Sahlin Studio); Kraft Fun Day and Sweet Life (Robyn Meierotto); Family Gatherings (Kate Teague); Weekender (Paislee Press)

Fonts: Shelter Me, Stampete

Template: Funkalicious 1 (Amber Morrison)

Soul Mates - A Heritage Layout

In my quest to continue trying to scrap old family photos, I used one of my favorites in a challenge at Design House Digital - the 4 Play Challenge. I love the colors and elements that were selected for this week's challenge, and I think they compliment this old photo well.




CREDITS:
Papers: Splendid (Sara Schmutz); Family Gatherings (Kate Teague)

Embellishments: Sweet Life (Robyn Meierotto); Splendid (Sara Schmutz); Simply Lifted Polaroid Frames Set 1 (Angie Hinksman); Family Gatherings (Kate Teague)

Fonts: Vivaldi (title); Traveling Typewriter (journaling)

Been There, Done That...

Sharing a pic from Scrapbook.com that I saw on Facebook today. Love it!

My Little Sunshine

Another new template to try! Digital Design Essentials has a great template on their blog today: Summer Siesta. So back into the archives (since I'm trying to catch up randomly, lol) for photos. Here is the result...

It wasn't until I started looking through my digi kits that I found the perfect title for this layout. He is definitely the sunshine in my life!

CREDITS:

Papers: Digitally Smitten (Gina Cabrera)

Embellishments: Digitally Smitten, Everyday Life, and Serendipity (Gina Cabrera)

Template: Summer Siesta (Gina Cabrera)

Font: Shelter Me

By the way, not only is the template a freebie, DDE also has a sale - everything in their store is 50% off through August 13th!

Lil Explorer

Kimberly Kalil had a new template on her blog this week. The template uses a single large photo. I dug into my archives to find an appropriate photo to fit the template and came up with this:

Although it was taken back in December, it's amazing to see how much the munchkin has grown since then.

Anyway, I loved putting this photo into Kimberly's template. It just highlights one of his "big" steps out in the real world, even if it is a kid's world.  :)




CREDITS:

Papers: Fruit Cocktail (Amy Hutchinson); Bold Brights (Betsy Tuma); Jack’s World, Fleuriste, and Love Notes (Cosmo Cricket); Italian Soda Shoppe – Blackberry Blueberry (Carina Gardner)

Embellishments: Cardstock Tabs No. 2 (Katie Pertiet); AllAmerican Summer and Playdate (Dani Mogstad)

Template: No. 29 (Kimberly Kalil)

Random Things Challenge

Design House Digital's journaling challenge this month is to include some random facts about yourself on your layout. This was a tough one for me, trying to come up with random facts. But, they are totally random, lol!

This is the first time that I have done everything - layout, journaling, embellishments - before deciding on a photo. I just realized I don't have many current photos of myself. (Almost all of my pics are with the little guy!) Working with everything except the photo first was a great way of choosing papers and embellishments that worked together first. I've always had a photo first, so this was new for me.

CREDITS:

Papers: A Fresh Start (Karen Funk); Breezy (Karla Dudley); Chevrons (Celeste Knight); Mykonos and Zoey (Shannon Hegarty)

Embellishments: Weathered Frames (Celeste Knight); CountYour Memories (Erica Coombs); DHD Blog Hop 2011; Family Tree (Karen Funk); Kraft Fun Day (Robyn Meierotto)

Fonts: Journaling - Digs My Hart, Dilbert, Courier New, Candara, Shelter Me; Title -  Freestyle Script, Fontdiner Swanky, Miserably Lose, Cherry Cream Soda, Showcard Gothic, Stencil

Template: UberMini 4 (Amy Martin)

4 Play Challenge @ Design House Digital

One of my latest site obsessions has been Design House Digital - love their $1 sale this month! They have so many must-haves, lol!

So while I was looking at their site yesterday, I noticed a challenge on their blog - 4 Play Challenge, where you make a layout using items from four different kits they have selected. This is the first time I've participated (since I just found out they had this weekly challenge), and it was so much fun!

The four kits this week are more boy-focused, and I had a hard time deciding which photos to use. I finally settled on some pics of the munchkin taken on July 4th.

Credits:

Papers: Craft Time - For Boys (Juliana Kneipp); Krafty Boy (Erica Coombs)

Embellishments: Craft Time - For Boys (Juliana Kneipp); Kraft Alphabet (Mye De Leon); SewingKit 1 (Agnes Biro)

Font: Miserably Lose

Heritage Challenge - Wheels

The Designer Digitals blog had a Heritage Challenge about Wheels this week. I immediately recalled two old photos that I could use for this. I've only found one of them. I know the other one exists on one of the hard drives, but I haven't found the second one yet, a pic of my younger brother on the Big Wheel, lol.

Enjoy this flashback of mine for today...

Credits

Papers: Words + Pictures – Love Paper Pack (Katie Pertiet); Annino Solids (Michelle Martin)

Embellishments: Chipboard Chunky Alpha – Red (Katie Pertiet); Word Strip Labels (Katie Pertiet); Assorted Messy Stitches White No. 6 (Katie Pertiet); Bakers Twine Assortment No. 2 (Katie Pertiet)

Brushes: Watery Brushes No. 3 (Katie Pertiet)

Template:  Just Plain Happy (Katie Pertiet)

Fonts: Scrap Script (title); Traveling Typewriter (journaling)

DigiDare #287 - Peace & Quiet

Finished DigiDare #287 today. This week's dare is all about peace and quiet. And being a mom, I'm sure lots of you know what that means - peace and quiet are non-existent, lol!

Here are the rules - uh, I mean guidelines...

Dare Flare:

• The colors of your layout must be soft–use pastel or white papers and elements.
• You don’t have to use a photo, but you have to use a frame on your page!
• Use paint in some way on your page.
• Add an inspiring quote or “note to self” on your page. This can be the focus of you page or it can be subtle and hidden in your design (like blended into the background, for example).

I have a photo that I absolutely love that always reminds me of peace and quiet, so I decided to use it on this layout. It's a little old, but it makes me recall my younger, single self - the days I really did have time to be me. I know I don't get a chance to do this now, but at least when I look at this, it's a reminder to try.

Credits:

Brushes: Watery Washes No. 3 (Katie Pertiet)

Papers: April Showers (Nancy Rowe Janitz); Color Wheel –Spring (Sara Schmutz)

Embellishments: Just About Me word art (Sara Schmutz); Serendipity frame (Gina Cabrera); Scenes from Real Life (One Little Bird)

Fonts: CK Ali’s Hand

Template:  Template Inspiration, Oct. 22, 2011 (Katie Pertiet)

Family Heritage Month at DSP

Yesterday, when I posted the family layouts I was working on, I had no idea Digital Scrapbook Place was celebrating Family History Month on their site. Most of the layouts posted in their gallery feature photos much older than the ones I have, but I'm working on trying to get a few older ones from my grandparents completed on layouts. No matter what, at least I will have some of the family photos documented in some way!

Now, are you looking for some vintage items to add authenticity to your vintage and family heritage layouts? Check out these resources...

Courtesy of F/Stop Spot

World War II Ration Stamps from F/Stop Spot
Great stamps from 1943 scanned carefully. There are a variety of stamps available at this page. Also at F/Stop, there are high-resolution envelope covers to use as background or embellishments.

Courtesy of The Graphics Fairy

The Graphics Fairy
One of my favorite sources for vintage art! You never know what you'll find when you do a search. There are photos, labels, and art for just about anything. It's even fun just to peruse the site.  :)

Courtesy of Fenderskirts Vintage

Fenderskirts Vintage
This site has more "recent" vintage clip art. 

Fuzzimo
Not everything at this site is vintage, but there are some cool freebies, like these old air mail envelope images.






Obviously, this is not a comprehensive list of vintage resources, but just a few I've found recently or peruse on a regular basis. I hope you'll find them helpful!

Family Heritage Layouts

Over the last week, I've become focused on digitally scrapbooking some "old" family pictures. Granted, these photos aren't that old, taken in the1970s and 1980s, but I had to start somewhere!

Christmas 1986 by cyranoscrap

This particular layout showcases some old photos from our family Christmas in 1986. The photos aren't very good, but they still capture a memory that is special to me.

Credits:

Papers: Vintage Christmas (Persnickety Prints)

Embellishments: Vintage Christmas (Persnickety Prints); Scenes from Real Life (One Little Bird); Everyday Life and Serendipity (Gina Cabrera, Digital Design Essentials); The Weekender (Paislee Press)

Title: Bits & Pieces (JM Designs)

Title Numbers: Techno Girl (Pixel Gypsy)

Fonts: Pea Olson

Here's another layout of a family gathering taken at a park...

80th Birthday by cyranoscrap

Credits:

Template: Press Plate No. 19 (Paislee Press)

Papers & Embellishments: Scenes from Real Life (One Little Bird)

Font: Orator

And one photo of my mom and her siblings:

The Villanuevas by cyranoscrap

Credits:

Template: Press Plate No. 2 (Paislee Press)
Paper & Embellishments: The Weekender (Paislee Press)
Fonts: Century Gothic (journaling, date); CK Maternal (title)

These layouts may seem a little plain, but I've been trying to keep them as simple as possible since I want to put them all together in a photo book for family members to purchase. Besides, I don't know of any other family members who have documented any of these events yet. I might even decide to use the photo book as a great Christmas gift for each family. It's never too early to start thinking about holiday ideas!