Here Comes Trouble!

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  Man, we had a GORGEOUS weekend here in southern Germany.  It's still pretty cool in the mornings, but for the last two days it's been sunny and in the 60s in the afternoons--perfection!

So the hubs and Ryan made breakfast yesterday morning (waffles with strawberries and cream) and we both noticed how much Ryan has grown.  He's over 40 pounds and he's gotten so much taller!  We keep saying we're going to stop feeding him so he won't grow anymore.  So let's enjoy some pictures from before Ryan grew so much:

D'awwww.  He had just started walking when we took these pictures.  Ryan looks so different now, but he does still have that same potbelly, haha!  It's adorable.  Anyway, the polka dot pattern is from the retired Coffee Break DSP, which I bought even though I don't drink coffee--yeah one or two patterns are coffee-related, but the rest of them can be used for just about anything and I adored the color combination of Garden Green, Pear Pizzazz, Soft Suede, and Soft Sky.  I used Crushed Curry for my page base because my mind always defaults to green + gold because I'm a Baylor Bear :D  And I had to use my favorite bear stamp from Thankful Forest Friends on here too.  I am currently drooling over a long-retired stamp set called Wilderness Reserve that has a gorgeous bear stamp in it, but I haven't yet convinced myself to pay $50 for it.  I did snatch up a different stamp set with a polar bear though.

Anywha, there's the color palette:  Crushed Curry, Garden Green, Soft Suede, Soft Sky, and Whisper White.

Wishing you a lovely sunny week, peeps.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Whimsical Alphabet, Thankful Forest Friends
Ink:  Garden Green, Soft Suede, Memento Tuxedo Black, Basic Black marker
Paper:  Crushed Curry, Garden Green, Soft Suede, Thick Whisper White, Coffee Break DSP, Into the Woods DSP
Accessories:  Stitched Shapes Dies

Merry Christmas 2009

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  I have an interview for a part-time job this morning and I was doing fine up until like 30 minutes ago and now I'm nervous.  Wish me luck?

So here's a real flashback scrapbook layout, 2009!  You can see some of these pictures here.  I love that patterned paper with the Christmas lights and I think I only have some teeny scraps of it left.  We just put up stockings and the Christmas tree here yesterday, Ryan was very excited about it all.

Today's color palette:  Mossy Meadow, Pear Pizzazz, Hello Honey, Soft Sky, Real Red, Basic Black, and Whisper White.  I probably would not have put those two greens together if not for the patterned paper but I do like the effect.

Okay, Imma go be nervous some more.  Cheers!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Signs of Santa, Christmas Greetings, Whimsical Numbers
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Real Red, Mossy Meadow, Basic Black marker, assorted Stampin' Blends
Paper:  Mossy Meadow, Hello Honey, Pear Pizzazz, Soft Sky, Real Red, Thick Whisper White, Season of Cheer DSP
Accessories:  Santa's Signpost Framelits

Pirate Party

Mornin' y'all!  I just finished a bit of Monday morning yoga...it was all about relaxation and I was really getting into it and then...Ryan starts yelling that he's ready to get up 30 minutes early.  Thanks, kid!  I did get to finish my yoga practice but Ryan is ready to start his day :p

I was very productive this weekend.  I did about 8 loads of laundry, put it all up, did journaling on eight scrapbook layouts, and took pictures of the giant stack of finished layouts.  And I got to work on my next two, and read a bit, and worked on my stitching, and made dinner on Saturday and Sunday, so yep, pretty productive!  The layout I'm sharing today is one I finished a while back:

After I stamped the title, I was very sad I didn't do "Pirate Parrrrty", but not sad enough to redo it all.  You can see the original pictures here.  I had fun pulling out that skull patterned paper and the pirate stamps.  It's a little hard to tell, but the skull next to the title is embossed in white, and the crossed swords are embossed in Smoky Slate EP.  I loved the colored embossing powders, one little pot will last me a long time.

Today's color palette includes Basic Black, Kiwi Kiss, Taken with Teal, Riding Hood Red, and Whisper White.  Fun and colorful, right?

Hope your week is off to a good start!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Whimsical Alphabet Upper, Pirate Time, Beware Pirates
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Riding Hood Red, Taken with Teal, Kiwi Kiss, Basic Black marker, Versamark, Whisper White craft
Paper:  Basic Black, Riding Hood Red, Taken with Teal, Kiwi Kiss, Thick Whisper White, Ghostly Greetings DSP
Accessories:  White EP, Smoky Slate EP

Welcome to Okinawa & 2019 Goals

Howdy, y'all!  I've been enjoying a bit of a break with the holidays but I should be starting back up with the ol' blog next week.  In the meantime, here's a layout that I finally got photographed yesterday:

This was from January 2008, so 11 years ago now and we still have these two crazies.  I used the Wintergreen DSP again and I'm seriously thinking about looking for more on eBay or something because I has a sad when I think how close I am to being out of it.  And there's my favorite paw print stamp, I don't even know who makes it but I use it a lot on my doggy scrapbook pages.  (Yes I am making a scrapbook for my dogs...well really it's for me but it's all dog pictures.  I don't care if you think I'm crazy, I love my fur babies.)

Color palette is almost straight out of the patterned paper:  Certainly Celery, Soft Sky, Always Artichoke, and Night of Navy (navy is not in the paper but I like it with all those greens and blues).  I would never have put Certainly Celery and Always Artichoke together on my own, but I do really like how it looks.

Supplies:
Stamps:  Labeler Alphabet, Whimsical Alphabet Upper, non-SU paw print
Ink:  Always Artichoke, Night of Navy
Paper:  Certainly Celery, Always Artichoke, Wintergreen DSP
Accessories:  Circle Punches





Okay, so instead of resolutions, I have GOALS for 2019 and a lot of them are paper craft-related, so I'm sharing them here so I have them written down somewhere and I can keep myself accountable.

Goals for scrapbooking!
1.  Make 200 scrapbook pages (so 100 double-page layouts).  I got fairly close to that in 2018 (178 finished, 8 more just need journaling but I'm bugging the hubs to do that this weekend), so I think I can do this as long as I keep at it regularly.
2.  Finish Ryan's baby book.  I pretty much finished June so I've got 8 months left to do.  And then I'll start sharing those here when I finish up the China posts on Sundays.
3.  Work on getting my pictures organized.  I've done a lot of organization on them, but I know we have a LOT of extra pictures...like, we don't need 75 nearly identical shots of Neuschwanstein, and I can cull out blurry pictures and stuff too so when I'm looking for something in particular it won't take me forever to find it.  I also need to organize recent photos of Ryan and order them so I have even MORE photos to scrapbook ;)  I'm hoping to make the organization progress a weekly thing, like on Sunday mornings we have muffins or pancakes or waffles or whatever for breakfast, so I can work on the photos for a bit while I eat breakfast on Sundays.  That's my plan.

Goal for reading!
1.  End the year with fewer unread books on my Kindle than I started, so the number to beat is 125.  Basically I want to read faster than I buy books, haha.  Ummm so is now the time to mention that I just got two more books for free with Kindle First and yesterday my friend alerted me to another free book so I'm already +3?  Yeah this goal is going well.  At least those three books were all free?

Goal for cross stitching!
1.  Finish The Accolade.  I started working on this in 2011, and I've put in 18 months of work on it over the past 7+ years, and this year I'm going to FINISH IT.  I've got several projects in mind when that one is done, but here's my progress pic on it:

I'm about 78% done, hope to finish it by this summer.

So.  Five goals.  I think they're all reasonable as long as I keep them in mind as I go along this year.  With that in mind, I have the supplies for my next layout on my craft table right now, so I'm going to go get started.  Cheers, y'all!

Christmas At Our House 2004

Scrappy Monday, y'all!  How was your weekend?  I managed to finish a few scrapbook layouts and I have two that are only waiting on some new markers I need to order, and yesterday I made two batches of cookies to give to the ladies who run the nursery at the Y.  I wanted to give them a little gift because I am so grateful they're there to watch my kiddo so I can work out!  (And I neeeeed to work out, I taste-tested the cookies!)

But let's get to today's layout, shall we?  Here's another very retro layout from the first time we lived in North Carolina.

Okay I'm in love with the Wintergreen DSP.  I've had it for YEARS and I still bust it out on occasion.  Honestly, I'm getting pretty low on it, I wonder if they have any for sale on Ebay?  Anyway, it's come in useful on quite a few scrapbook layouts.  My page base is Blue Bayou, a long ago In Color, which wasn't in the DSP pack but I think it coordinates really well.

Click to embiggen if you want to see the title close up.  Hubs and I did our own Christmas thang at home before we went to Texas that year, and wonder of wonders, I did actually do the Texas layouts too (check back next week for those).

Today's color palette is comprised of Blue Bayou, Cranberry Crisp (another long ago In Color), Always Artichoke, Certainly Celery, Sage Shadow, Soft Sky, and Very Vanilla.  Quite the list there, but they're all in the DSP except the first two colors.

Looks like a lot of challenges are going on a mini-break for Christmas, so I may be a bit more sporadic with posting.  I'm hoping to squeeze in some more scrapbook pages before the end of the year, though I know I won't get up to 200 (I'm currently at 164 I think?).  Lately I've set aside the baby Ryan and baby Sadie photos (the ones I was alternating working on) and I've been doing layouts of Christmases past.  I still have pictures pulled for at least five more Christmas layouts, I figure I might as well do them all now while Christmas is on the brain!

Cheers, y'all!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Whimsical Alphabet Upper & Lower, Calendar Alphabet & Numbers, Warmth & Wonder
Ink:  Cranberry Crisp, Always Artichoke, Basic Gray marker
Paper:  Blue Bayou, Cranberry Crisp, Always Artichoke, Thick Very Vanilla, Wintergreen DSP
Accessories:  None

2015 Scrapbook Showcase, Part 1

So the card showcase is already up, let's take a look back at the year's scrapbook layouts!  I'm very proud to say I made a whopping 154 scrapbook pages this year, not counting the ones I did for baby books.  I have enough draft scrapbook posts to do Scrappy Mondays through June.  So let's take a look, shall we?

January's pick is this hot layout from Greece.  It's funny, I don't really do a lot of pages with red or orange page bases, but half of my showcase picks feature just that.  Anyway, I love the Tangelo Twist base on this page because it reminds me how stinkin' hot it was in Olympia that day.

February's pick is this hot pink layout from our last days in Okinawa.  I need more Melon Mambo in my life.

My pick for March is this birthday layout, and that baby girl is now six.  Even more exciting is that my friend Tiana will be here in just a few days!!!

I just couldn't choose only one layout for April, so the first April pick is this comic-inspired layout from when my family accidentally got involved in a drug bust in London.  They seriously love telling that story, and props to Mom for taking the pictures of it so I could make this layout.

My second April pick is this layout from China, and is the genesis for a longstanding joke between me and the hubs and our friends.  I'm not in love with my fried egg embellishments on here, but I love the golden arches and the story behind this one.

For May's pick, I went with a Melon Mambo layout once again and these gorgeous pictures from Santorini, Greece.  This was the very first time I used Tip Top Taupe too.

And to cap off the first half of the scrapbook showcase, June's pick is from that same cruise and the island of Capri.  I think I've already scrapped about half of that cruise and I love looking at all the pictures (and I seriously want to go back to Greece).

Happy New Year, y'all!  Next week's Scrappy Monday will be the second half of the scrapbook showcase, and then we'll get the new year started with some new stampy projects.  Cheers!

Friday Flashback: Paint Prints

Happy Friday, peeps!  This week's Friday Flashback stamp set is the awesome Paint Prints, which was a Sale-a-Bration set back in 2005 when it was still Sell-a-Bration.  Are ya ready?

Also features All Holidays

All the stamps in Paint Prints are kinda watercolor/distressed looking.  I think I got a little carried away with this card, it's kinda busy.

Also features Happy Everything

And here is incontrovertible proof that you can take two stamp sets you really like and still make a hella ugly card.

Also features Lovely Letters Alphabet

Ah, a unicorn chaser in the form of some scrapbook pages.  The Paint Prints flowers are stamped all over the page base around the photo blocks; click on the pic to see it bigger.  And marvel at my photographic skillz in taking pictures of all those lotus blossoms.

Here's another super old baby book layout.

Also features A Greeting for All Reasons

And a very old card, but I still kinda like this one.

Here's some kinda manly colors, and you can see the block and the "delight" stamp also in the set.

Also features All-Year Cheer

 Bopping right along...

Also features Sincere Salutations

I like the colors on this one but I think they're almost all retired.

Also features Whimsical Alphabet, Amazing to Zany, Paisley

 I like the rounded corners on the main image panel, I should do that again and update this card.

Non-SU sentiment

My great-grandmother used to tell me to drink orange juice because "it will put sunshine in your day" and this card makes me think of her.  So that's the end of the Flashback, here's the new card on the block:

Haha, block, and it's a colorblock card.  That wasn't particularly on purpose but it amused me when I thought about it for a second.  Anyway, this card's layout is courtesy of Freshly Made Sketches, gotta love a good colorblock.

 

And the colors are courtesy of me, because I wanted to use Elegant Eggplant, Pink Pirouette, Pale Plum, and Pistachio Pudding.  It seemed like a good idea at the time.

And there's the inside of the card.

Well folks, that's it for me this week.  I'm off to go do some more crafting.  Cheers!

Supplies, last card only:
Stamps:  Paint Prints
Ink:  Elegant Eggplant, Pink Pirouette, Pale Plum, Whisper White
Paper:  Elegant Eggplant, Pink Pirouette, Pistachio Pudding, Pale Plum, Whisper White
Accessories:  white baker's twine, Dimensionals

Friday Flashback: Bold Basics

Mornin', peeps, and welcome to this week's Friday Flashback!  This week the randomly chosen retired stamp set is Bold Basics, which is one of those sets I got the first year I started stamping but still somehow didn't use a whole lot.  So let's go!

Also features Simply Spring, Bunch o' Bugs, Whimsical Alphabet

You saw this layout pretty recently when we did the Whimsical Alphabet Friday Flashback.  The flowers on the right page are from Bold Basics.

Also features Tiny Talk

Who doesn't love a red, white, and blue Valentine?  How do you like the split mat on the main image?

Well, that was it for the Flashback part, so here is today's all-new creation:

As soon as I saw this week's Color Throwdown I knew I wanted to use it with these flowers from Bold Basics.  I really wanted to use the bright and fun (and retired) Summer Sun, and I was looking through my old ribbon for some black grosgrain when I found the yellow and I thought PERFECT!  The greeting is from A Greeting for All Reasons, which just seemed to match the tone of the Bold Basics blossoms.

So here's the challenge swatch from the Color Throwdown:

Fun and cute.  I kinda wish I had used a pattern on the bottom of my card that had more black in it, but I liked the houndstooth so whatever.  Anyway, that's it for me this week, so I'd better get my last run in and then maybe I can treat myself to the movies this afternoon :)  Cheers, peeps!

Supplies, last card only:
Stamps:  Bold Basics, A Greeting for All Reasons
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Summer Sun
Paper:  Whisper White, Night & Day DSP
Accessories:  Maize grosgrain, corner rounder punch

Friday Flashback: Whimsical Alphabet

Ok, I really didn't do it on purpose, but somehow I drew the names of three alphabet stamp sets when I was grabbing the next batch of Friday Flashback stamp sets.  So get ready for another scrapalicious (and long) Friday Flashback featuring the Whimsical Alphabet!  And maybe the numbers, too :)

Also features Beyond the Basics

Several years ago there was a challenge on Splitcoast to make a scrapbook layout for a family.  The wife/mom of four had died unexpectedly; she was an avid scrapbooker but like pretty much all scrappers, she had thousands of photos unscrapped.  So I emailed the project coordinators and got a couple batches of photos and made two layouts; I left the journaling space blank so someone who knew the family could write there.

Also features Darling Dragons, Background Basics

Do you remember the TV show Dinosaurs?  With the baby dinosaur who always said "Not the mama!" to his dad?  Welllll, dragons are kinda like dinosaurs, right?

Here's a layout from Okinawa, when the hubs took a cheapo underwater camera with him on a scuba diving trip to see whale sharks.

Also features Simply Spring, Bunch o' Bugs, Bold Basics

There's my kiddos dressed up for Halloween!

Also features Simply Spring, Bunch o' Bugs

Or should I say, HOWLoween!

Also features Ancient Asia

I know you've seen this one before, it does seem to keep popping up.

And here's a funny card for ya featuring the Whimsical numbers.

Also features Happy Hearts, Dream Come True

I don't much like the color scheme on this one, but I think the idea was cute and I do like how I stamped the "love" on it.

Also features Mixed Bouquet

I kinda miss Apricot Appeal.  Or Peach Parfait.  I wouldn't mind having another pale orange in the next set of In Colors.

Also features Lovely Leaves

I did this layout not too long after I started stamping, it's one of the first scrapbook layouts I made with stamps.  So you know I've had this alphabet for a long time.

Also features Wanted, Bronc Buster

I think this is the only time I've ever decorated a gift bag :)

Also features Sweet Treats, Background Basics

And this one was on here recently too, when I did the Sweet Treats Friday Flashback.  So yep, I think I've gotten some good use out of this alphabet, and for today's new project I have another layout:

Yay!  Love happy layouts!  This was from lil girl's first birthday party, and her daddy has a July birthday too so he got his own Over the Hill pie.

Closeup of the title.  Since I didn't do mixed fonts, I did two colors:  Pumpkin Pie and Rose Red.   This layout is also the maiden voyage for Be the Star, which I just got recently.  I think the sketchy style of the stars paired nicely with the alphabet.

And there's my color palette:  Pretty in Pink (retired), Regal Rose (retired), Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie, and Gable Green (retired).  This is why I love my color swatch book, it reminds me to use retired colors for my layouts.  Searching through all my paper scraps for this layout is what made me organize all of them this week.  So glad THAT's done, it was ridiculous.

That's it for me, peeps.  Cheers to a great weekend!

Supplies, last layout only:
Stamps:  Whimsical Alphabet Upper & Lower, Be the Star
Ink:  Pumpkin Pie, Green Galore, Rose Red ink pad & marker
Paper:  Pretty in Pink, Gable Green, Whisper White, Sweet Always DSP, Party Animal SSK
Accessories:  Stars Framelits