New Sassy

Here's my latest take on the Sassy sketch from June 21. Kind of a lot more pattern paper than I normally put together, but still like the end results. Don't I have the cutest (I mean toughest) little football player!!

Oh bear...

So last week turned out to be one of those weeks! It all started out with my oldest son Sam losing half of one of his permanent teeth playing flag football at Summer school. In the grand scheme of things, not a huge deal. Especially knowing Sam - he is a very active, not all that careful 9 year old. Tuesday evening my husband left for a few days for training for work. When I got up Wednesday morning, I let our dogs outside. They immediately took off barking. I looked outside to a black bear eating our garbage! He was in no big hurry to leave either. The dogs barked at him for nearly 20 minutes before he finally left. I do daycare in my home and had parents dropping off their kids shortly - so I was glad to see him go, but jumpy all morning. I finally had relaxed a bit by early afternoon only to see him back AGAIN!! Because my husband was gone, I called a friend of ours to see if he could come over and get him to leave. He came over and began throwing things at the bear and making noise, which only made the bear climb up a tree. He borrowed my son's be-be gun and shot at the bear for nearly 15 minutes....the bear sat in the tree fairly unfazed. The bear sat in the tree for nearly 10 minutes after he left and finally came down. My very brave dog chased him down our yard a little ways only to have him go up another tree. Finally he came down from there and left. I called the DNR and had to beg to get them to set up a trap to catch the bear. They delivered that the next day and of course now the bear hasn't been seen. 3 more days of the trap and I am quite sure he will come back on the 4th day!

After all this, I was a little excited to show off my pictures of our friend the bear. I went to upload them to our computer only to have the computer die....would not even turn on! It was a 10 year old computer, so I really can't complain too much - but at least it could have waited one more week. So after 2 days of no computer, I made the trip to Best Buy to get a new one. I had been a little slow in backing up my pictures. Being the scrapbooker I am, I couldn't just leave them on the old computer. So for a mere $149 the Geek squad took them off my hard drive and put them on my new computer. So here I sit with my fabulous new computer (it really is fabulous and even turns on and off when I want it too) and can show off my friend the bear - hope you all had a much less hectic week than I did. Isn't summer supposed to be the season of lazy, quiet days....maybe next week:)

The bear is about 15 feet from my front door!

Anxiously awaiting (again)

Sassy Lil Sketches is searching for design team members again. I thought I would give it another go...here is my page I submitted based on their sketch. The team is supposed to be picked by Sunday, so keep your fingers crossed for me. I love the photo of Grace at T-ball, I think her helmet is nearly as big as she is. She looked so tiny playing, but absolutely loved it! Enjoy

My girl...

I absolutely LOVE this photo of Grace, my youngest daughter. It is one of those pictures that I look at and can't help but smile. It wasn't taken for any real reason. She had found her shirt in the hand-me-down box from her cousins and absolutely loved it. The picture had been sitting on my desk waiting to be scrapped for almost a year. I was just waiting for the perfect paper and idea. The paper I finally used seemed to match perfectly - the print in the pattern paper matched the print on her shirt and the colors were great! The paper is from my latest scrap-room kit - love that place! It is actually based on a sketch from their site as well. The Scrap-room has a blog with great weekly challenges (fabulous prizes too). Every Monday on their blog a new challenge is posted. You don't have to be a kit club member to play along, you just have to be a member of their message board which takes about 1 minute to get signed up. Check it out if you get the chance.


The picture isn't as bright as I would have hoped for, but after a week of rain I finally decided that partly sunny would have to do to take the photo. Enjoy

Here it is...

So I have been waiting all day to post this LO and blogger has been down. For the 5 of you following me (yeah - I have a new follower), here is my guest design LO for the Sassy site. For any of you scrappers who haven't checked our their site - I must say they have wonderful sketches - I even used their card sketch to make some beautiful cards and I am horrible at making cards. Anyways, on to the big reveal....drum roll please:) Enjoy!!

Don't miss it!

So excited to remind all of my followers (all 4 of you) that I am the guest designer for the month of June at the Sassy Lil Sketches site. The new sketch comes out on the 7th of June....so check back to see my creation - and by the way, to the 4 of you who are my faithful following - THANKS!!

New sassy...

Here's the latest sketch from Sassy's lil sketches. Another fabulous sketch to work with, but I really struggled with the page. I loved the beach pictures, but could not (in my 419 pages of paper) find the right paper to match the photos. What does anyone else do when they get stuck - my solution is to keep adding things! I added the flower on the lower left and that seemed left out, so I added the bigger one in the right corner. That wasn't in the magical number of embellies in 3s - so I added the 2 little ones. Doing the math that makes 4 - I guess that's what threw the whole LO off (nothing to do with the person scrapping it). Anyways, once I got my title on, it seemed a little better, but then I probably should have used journaling strips instead of one block. I guess I can't love every page I scrap - maybe tomorrow!! Hope you enjoy it anyway.

Boys, boys, boys

I have such a tough time getting a picture of my oldest! He should be used to the camera and having his mother trying to get a picture or 2 (or 20). But it never fails, all I ask for is a smile on one picture - I really don't think that is asking for too much. Although I must admit sometimes the goofy ones tell the story so much better. These pictures were from 4th of July last summer. We spend the day with our wonderful family and I try every year to get a picture of each of the kids in my mother-in-laws' beautiful gardens. I tried to get Sam to stand in amongst the flowers and that was hopeless. So we tried sitting on the deck - - he finally gave up and covered his face...giggling away under his hands. Someday I may get a smile, for now I am fine with the happy kid who can't figure out how to smile.

The LO is based on the latest fabulous sketch from Sassy Lil sketches. Enjoy!

Here's another

Finished another sketch from Sassy Lil Sketches. Another fun sketch to use - although I'm not sure my brain was totally focused last night as I was scrapping. If you look closely at the page, you'll notice that the 'awesome' paper on the bottom was supposed to be the top of the page. I did not even notice until I took the picture and was cropping it on the computer this morning. I changed the sketch to use the pattern paper on the left as a pocket, although my stapler didn't quite reach all the way around. Sometimes things just don't go as planned. Oh well, I still like the end result. Hope you do too - Enjoy!

Another scrappy sketch...

So I have been a little slow (yes, a lot slow) at using the fabulous sketches from Sassy Lil Sketches. This is my take on their latest sketch and I even finised mine before the next one came out - patting myself on the back just a bit. Although I'm not sure what to think about my page...I usually have my kids, or at least people on my pages. This is some of my daughter Molly's artwork from Kindergarten. With 4 kids, I was unsure of what to do with all of their art projects. I had seen in a magazine that someone had taken pictures and then scrapped the pictures - great idea, right?? I guess I just need to get used to not seeing my kids darling faces on the pages. Maybe next time I will get a picture of the artist with her creations. Enjoy and Happy Spring (a week late, told you I was a little slow)!!

Sassy sketch

Here's the first page I made using the great sketches from Sassy Lil sketches. I am a little (ok, a lot) slow in getting going. This page was based on their sketch from Feb. 21. Now if I can just figure out the system they are using to link pages I will be in business...

Enjoy!

403

403 - That's the magic number! The kids and I counted and I have 403 pieces of 12x12 pattern paper. Actually I will have 419 after today's mail comes because my monthly kit is on the way. I did notice while I was counting that some of that paper was YEARS old. I should probably go through it and let the kids have some more play paper. I guess that means I have years worth of paper to keep me company or maybe it means I really should scrap more and buy less! By any means, I won't be running out anytime soon. I'm curious if I am the only scrapping 'collector' out there or does anyone else have way too much of a scrapping supply? Let me know - leave me a post if you get a chance!

Here's another page I did with just a touch of pattern paper - it was from the same day as the last page I posted. Grace just loved watching the ships in the harbor. Enjoy!

Obsessed with...

PATTERN PAPER! I love pattern paper. I literally have piles of it. Then when I go to use it, I use a tiny little bit on my pages. I love how it looks on my pages, but only in small amounts. I don't know that I have ever used a full sheet of pattern paper up. This is a recent page I did which has a fairly typical amount of pattern paper on it for me. Does anyone else use it in big amounts??

As I sit here posting this, I am now curious as to how many pieces of paper I actually have...I think I will put my kids to work counting. Although I will probably cringe to know how many pieces I have (more at what those papers cost). You'll have to check back to see how your paper "stacks up" with mine!

Have a great sunny day ~ Enjoy!

I love to...

SEW! If you know me at all, you are laughing right now. I think the last time I actually sewed anything was in Home Ec in high school. But I do love the way it looks on my scrapbook pages. So every once in awhile I pull out my old sewing machine and add some stitching. I think it is amazing how much it adds to the page. If you've never tried it, I challenge you to! If you don't have a sewing maching, a needle and thread works just as well. Here are a few pages I did with a little sewing on them. It was the first time I sewed with ribbon - it worked pretty well and I know it is staying put. Also LOVE the bling cupcake on the 'Happy Day' page, every girl needs a little bling...

enjoy!

Spring Fever!

As I sit here watching it snow - AGAIN! I am realizing how much I look forward to spring. I really love having snow at Christmastime and even don't mind January. But once February comes I have had enough. Living here I should be used to it, but I guess being inside gives me much more time to scrapbook! If I were outside enjoying the beautiful weather I wouldn't be creating. Here's one of my latest, enjoy!

Valentine Wishes...

My daughter Molly wanted to make her Valentine cards this year. I found a great pattern in Scrapbooks Etc. magazine and this is what we came up with. Enjoy!

Birthday wishes

Today is my mom's birthday - I promise mom I won't tell anyone how old you are!! Here is a page I did of my wonderful mom with her grandkids just this past Christmas. Happy Birthday Mom -have a great day. We love you!

A scrappy afternoon

I spent the afternoon yesterday scrapping at my friend Tammy's house. She is a talented lady - check our her blog she has some amazing ideas with all the instructions. Her blog is Scrappin' with Tammy

My oldest son Sam also pointed out that he is the only one who doesn't have a page posted on my blog. This is a page I did awhile ago, but is one of my favorite pages of him. The picture, even though you can't see his face, captures his personality perfectly!

Have a great day and happy scrapping!

Good news & bad

Well the news is in and I wasn't chosen to be on the Sassy Lil Sketches design team. The good news is that I was asked to be a guest designer for the month of June. I'm pretty excited to design for their site. Their monthly sketches start on the 7th of February - check them out if you get a chance!

Design team call

So I told you all I was hoping to get onto a design team. I found a brand new sketch site that just happened to be looking for designers. Sassy Lil Sketches is a great new site that is going to be releasing 2 new sketches a month. It's definately worth checking out. Here's are my pages I submitted for the call - wish me luck! Happy scrapping...

My latest page

This is the last page I scrapped this weekend. Fun, bright page with paper from my January Scrap-room kit!! I have found a great site for monthly kits - www.scrap-room.com. I used to be one of those people who couldn't resist all the latest and greatest at the scrapbook store. I have much more willpower now, I don't even have to go into the store. The Scrap-Room kits come monthly, have 4 different kits from 4 different manufacturers. You should check out their site, even if you aren't interested buying their kits, they have a great message board with tons of talented scrappers, lots of great contests and a great gallery from their members. Enjoy the page and happy scrapping!

And so it begins...

So this whole blog thing is new to me. Not something I thought I would be doing, especially as technologically challenged as I can be! But one of my goals for 2010 is to have a scrapbook page published or even better being picked for a design team. Most page calls or design team openings want to see your blog ~ so here it begins. Thanks for visiting my site, come back again and happy scrapping!

I will post some fun scrappy pages soon!