smile - We Were Here...

Before we went to the beach this year, I did the obligatory shopping

for swimsuits and sunscreen and beach toys and beach chairs and

sunglasses and coolers and nightlight travel bulbs AND a bunch

of stuff that we did not need at all...However, in all that search I did

buy Shawn a Fedora, that I thought was cool, that he could

totally pull off because, let's face it, he's Italian, swarthy and confident

enough to do so...I hit a home run, he loved it and it was unexpected!

He totally wanted to wear it, HOWEVER, so did everyone else...

The kids wanted their own swarthy turn, heehee, and of course,

as a hat lover, I had to have it too...Ironically, Shawn didn't wear it as

much as he wanted to, but it was THE definite necessary accessory!

In between forgetting sunglasses and goggles & sandwich baggies for iPhones,

(yep, learned from unfortunate friends' accidents) we never forgot the Fedora...

I had these photos, which I thought were great, but the Scrapbook

Circle Challenge for doing a LO based on 'Dressing Up' was perfect!

I had saved this tag from the inside of one of my favorite sweaters

b/c I loved the name, "Love Stitches" & thought I would use it some

day on a layout...perfect!  Helps justify all the hoarding of things

that might seem, or are, useless, until needed!!  SEE, I really did use it!

Anyway, here is my LO for their challenge using the July Scrapbook Circle Kit!

I have done more layouts with this kit than any previous, however,

they have all been with the same color palette of turquoise, white, yellow

and sand colors...couldn't get enough.  So, this was an exercise in making

me somehow, stay away from using my colors favorites right now and do

the challenge, it was easier than I thought it could be...!

you ( & I am a busy bee! )

Layout done for the Lily Bee July Sketch Challenge found here:

http://lilybee.typepad.com/blog/2012/07/monday-sketch-challenge-with-ursula.html

I have multiple copies of this photo, framed and loose. 

It is one of my all time favorites of Samuel, and true to form,
I didn't take it.  Sam's Mother's Day Out teacher took it of

him on the last day right after their little Spring Program.

That was the sweetest little argyle sweater and matching blue

seersucker shorts...he looked like a little model for kids clothes,

or miniature golfers, heehee.

Anyway, I LOVE Lily Bee's collections...Polka dots and graphics

are what I am most attracted to in patterned papers, so I

wanted to keep it simple and use the black and white photo

to show the pretty colors and patterns of the paper. 

Ironically all these colors are the colors in Sam's sweater.

I think the index card is really supposed to be used upside

down from the way I have it, as a "no" as in "#" but maybe

that is up from interpretation...at least that is the way I took it!

make a wish!

I printed out these photos but never could decide whether I

liked the combination or wanted to do individual photos...

I found this title on the Silhouette website and decided

it would be perfect with the Indie Chic and Nostalgia

collections from My Mind's Eye.  I actually had them

all set aside for this layout when I decided to use it for the

July Sketch that Keri Babbitt did for MME. 

I love her style and the sketch was awesome!

Here is the link to that post:

http://mymindseye.typepad.com/blog/2012/07/sketch-time.html

Poor Sofia, her birthday lands right in the middle of

Spring Break and I still haven't learned my lesson for

planning early or late.  We had sent out invites for a

rocker girl party, started buying supplies and making plans

& the only people who could come were our cousins & 1 friend.

Sadly, it wasn't quite the party Fia had in mind...

sooooo we decided to postpone a big party for a year,

(at least a week early!) & we bribed her with a trip to ToysRUs,

dinner at her favorite restaurant (i.e. cheese dip) and the

biggest cupcake she could find from Whole Foods...

bribery works, and I am so not above it!

The three things I am obsessed with right now are title

and shapes using the negative from the Silhouette or punch,

banners, and stitching on my sewing machine...

I think I got a little carried away with the stitching on this layout

but it is such a great way to finish off the edge or combine

two elements to me, I can't help myself! 

Used them all here!  Yay!



Seriously?

I have been using this color palate for a while so when it

came up as one of the CHA Challenges on 2P's,

it was pretty easy to find what I wanted to use...

I have so many photos over the last 5 years of Sam's eyelashes.

They are crazy long and dark and I am so envious...

Sometimes they are the only that saves me from getting

really mad at him when he does something wrong...

which is a lot lately, good thing he's cute!

Most of the products came from the Scrapbook Circle July kit.



mirror mirror

When I saw the Scrap Fit Challenge colors, they looked retro

to me, combined with the colors from the Scrapbook Circle kit,

the woodgrain and cardstock, etc. and the MME die cut of the word "retro"

I knew this would be the perfect photos...

Here is the link to the Scrap Fit Challenge:

http://scrapfit.blogspot.com/2012/07/workout-72-color-inspiration.html

I have had these photos for years and only found them while

moving my craft room around...My mother-in-law is all

about recreating pictures of family members in similar poses.

Sofia was playing with this doctor kit at their house and she

remembered  this photo she had taken of Shawn 35 YEARS ago. 

She took the photo of Sofia with the old photo in mind, but didn't realize

that they were so eerily similar until after she found the old original

picture.  She is definitely her Daddy's girl, even their expressions are close...

kinda crazy.

I cut the woodgrain paper, from Echo Park's "So Happy Together"

Collection and rolled back the edges to make it look like these pictures

were hiding underneath...don't think I quite got that point

across but maybe next time! 

but Mom...

I had these photos from a few years ago but still remember

the whining that ensued on our departure...

We gave this "Harley" big wheel to our godson but it

was our son that wouldn't get off of it.  

We used to try preparing the kids for the fact that eventually

the party would end and we would have to leave. 

Sometimes that seemed to help plant the idea and give the kiddos

time to prepare.  Other times, i.e. usually, it just didn't matter,

there was a screaming kid under my arm as we left the

party, playdate, park, etc.

I used a sketch from Scrapbook Circle's July Sketch, as well

as their July kit, Sunshine Day, which is my favorite to date!

Here is their sketch: 

 http://www.scrapbookcircle.com/2012/07/sketch-challenge-july



the gathering...so it begins...

Our trips to the beach always bring back some stowaway sand,

some tan lines {for the kids anyway}, and lots and lots of sea shells.

A couple years ago, you could hardly walk on the beach without

stepping on a shell...last year there were hardly any to be found.

This summer there were more but mostly little small ones.

This layout was made almost completely from the

July Scrapbook Circle Kit + a few things from previous kits.

I love the July kit, lots of the colors I can't get enough of,

some wood grain, and lots of Studio Calico...yummy.

I used the Silhouette to cut a little pouch out of vellum for

some of our gathered shells. 

Regardless, we have more than I know what to do with...

I think it might call for a trip to Hobby Lobby for some

crafty supplies and glue for a shell project. 

{ Together & } WiSHfUlL

I did this layout for the July My Mind's Eye Challenge

which was to do a monochromatic page.

I love this mustard-y color that has been in their

recent collections...

Here is the link to their page: http://mymindseye.typepad.com/blog/2012/07/july-challenge.html

Since ombre is such a big trend right now, and I had

been wanting to do something with colored clothespins,

this was the perfect opportunity to include them.

Little Black Dress Kit Club - July (part 5)

This was one of my favorite layouts from the kit. 

I love that mustard yellow chevron from MME and thought

it looked great with the grainy Instagram photos I can't

seem to get enough of!  Yellow + aqua + red = yummy.

This LO is based on the Ben Folds son called

"Still Fighting It" which is one of my favorites. 

 We love this song, and the lyrics start

"Good morning son, I am a bird..."

 We saw him in concert recently and

he was amazing...oozing talent!



Little Black Dress Kit Club - July (part 4)

This is the one layout that doesn't have any relation to music

or specific lyrics or anything...couldn't think of anything to work.

In early Spring, this year, the kids were really into taking their

lap desks outside to color or draw.  Sofia decided this day to

draw and color the irises.  Shawn documents the event from all angles

on his phone including the fact that usually Sam just wants

to watch his big sister...no matter what she is doing.  Eventually he

wants to participate but he loves just be next to her and watch.

Which works out good for everyone since she loves to be watched,

except when she doesn't, she is a fickle 8 year old after all.

The kit had so many great patterns and colors that in honor of the garden, I

decided to just throw a many on a page as possible and see what happened.

Not my favorite LO, but there is lots to look at!

Little Black Dress Kit - July (part 3)

Did I mention there going to be several of these posts?

I figured if I put all five LO's on one post that people would

have stopped reading LONG ago...

My husband suggested using the John Mayer song "Daughters"

for one of the pages after he heard the challenge.  This was from Easter

and one of the cardstocks from Heidi Swapp in the kit was the

exact color of Sofia's dress.  The layered scallops at the bottom are

also from Heidi Swapp Color Magic collection of file folders that

is so much fun to play with!  I cut mine up and used these scallops

as a border after misting them. 

I wanted to have a mix of  masculine and feminine on this LO so I 

alternated pieces of  these black & cream papers from Basic Grey

"Little Black Dress" collection.  I machine stitched the diagonals down

and had wanted it to look  like men's suiting, pinstripes next to polka dots? 

Not that I have seen any men's suiting out of polka dots...you get the picture.



Little Black Dress Kit Club - July (part 2)

So next up on the music inspired challenges was a LO

for my daughter's Christening.  I love the new Up & Away collection

from Basic Grey and this was absolutely the perfect place to use

that paper.  The song that inspired it was a song from Madonna's

"Ray of Light" cd...the song is called "Little Star" and I used to

sing it to Sofia when she was a baby...maybe why she took a long

time to fall asleep ;)  But once asleep, she stayed that way!

Could be she didn't want to hear anymore songs...ha!

The July kit also had some of the Pretty Party collection from Crate Paper.

This yellow lace sheet has a great aqua print on the back, but I cut around

the lace as a sort of homage to the Christening gown Sofia wore.

I wanted to keep the LO as light as possible to let the photo stand out. 

I cut the clouds out with my Silhouette and then layered them over another piece

of misted cardstock.  I machine stitched "rays" down from the clouds and wrote a

couple of the song lyrics in vellum so it wouldn't cover up too much and keep it airy...

I loved the little paper doll people I cut out at the bottom...

since there were now three of us and where we are connected, it forms a heart...sniff.

My Mother brought is back from Ireland where she and her 5 brothers and

sisters all wore it.  My cousin was the last one to wear it about 30 years ago.

It is gorgeous and since then, my son wore it and my two nieces.

My Mother also made a slip underneath it that has a hem made from

some tatting that my other Grandmother had made.  We monogrammed

everyone's initials who has wore it on the bottom of the slip.

Needless to say, it is a special, special dress...It was a beautiful day and Sofia

was an angel...until after her turn was finished...then she screamed her head off.

I think she was hot in all those gorgeous layers of lace...it was July after all.

Little Black Dress Kit Club - July (part 1)

Well, this is my first month on the DT for Little Black Dress Kit Club

and I wanted to share my projects created with the July kit. 

One reason I love their kit is because it has everything that is hot

and trendy yet some quirky things as well that challenged me to

think outside my little typical layered page. 

The DT had also decided to make a challenge for one layout

to be inspired by a song, or lyrics or song title, anything that struck

a chord (ha ha) with us or something we wanted to scrap.

I find music to be such an inspiration anyway because I usually have

it playing in the background or am listening to my kids beat on

Daddy's drums...ahem...

Anyway, this was an easy challenge and I actually made 4

layouts with specific songs in mind - part overachiever and

part-misunderstanding by my part...at any rate, here they are!

There is a song by the Talking Heads that reminds me of college

and that I just love...sadly, my husband hates it, which is weird

since it is what I used as inspiration about the fact that

wherever he is is "home"...oh well!

The song is "This Must Be the Place"



loving life.

Before our beach this year I bought Shawn a fedora...

I thought he could totally rock the retro vibe with his mirrored

motorcycle cop sunglasses!

Everyone took turns wearing it, it was pretty funny.

I'll have to do a layout of that next.

This page was based on a sketch from Elle's Studio for

their Thursday Sketch Challenge...It was a great sketch and

perfect for what I wanted to do!  Here is the link to their page...

http://ellesstudio.blogspot.com/2012/06/sketch-thursday_29.html

Anyway, I did this layout using almost all October Afternoon

collections...I love the "9 to 5" line because of that retro

feel and of course, I can't get enough of any woodgrain

papers right now...I have also been hoarding these wood veneer

hearts and arrows from Studio Calico waiting for the right time! 

( I have a problem with the hoarding...I admit it. )



As usual most of the pictures Shawn and I have is of Shawn holding the

camera and us looking up at it...but, at least we documented something!

It was a great vacation...a much needed break.



piggies in the s a n d...

I created this layout for the Echo Park "Sweet Day Challenge"...

Ironically, I started the project days ago and got hit with either a serious

tummy bug, or food poisoning and just now finished.

So, until today, things haven't been so sweet...but now, better...

Whew!  It takes feeling like poop for days to make

you appreciate how good feeling normal is! :)

Anyway, this was Sam's first trip to the beach, before Sofia

started school, so we could go in the fall...we went in October

and it was absolutely wonderful...great weather, not crowded,

like our own private beach off of the balcony.

I guess for a toddler the ocean must be an odd thing...

loud and completely different from anything.

Sam did NOT want to get in the water, but he loved the sand,

just not in his shoes.  Which is kinda hard to get around

when you are at the beach...Sand gets everywhere, between toes

is the least of your worries...oy.