DreAm On!?

Pretty self explanatory page...I know Shawn wants a motorcycle.

Several of his friends have them, his father rebuilt his vintage Triumph,

and even I admit it is beautiful.   And he looks pretty hot on it.

But seriously, they are so dangerous...and it scares the poo poo out of me.

So, that is where I stand on the topic of motorcycles...

to quote Steven Tyler, "Dream On".

On a happier note, at least for me...

I did this LO in a  serious multitasking way!

It was using this weeks color scheme from Color-Me-Scrappy

and their technique this week was to use staples...perfect for a manly LO!

Here is the link to their blog post:

http://color-me-scrappy.blogspot.com/2012/11/challenge-17.html

I also used a sketch from a new blog I discovered My Scraps & More Sketches.

Lots of great inspiration and I used their current sketch #3 for this page.

Here is the link to their post:

 http://www.myscrapsandmoresketches.blogspot.com/2012/11/my-scraps-more-sketch-3.html



Sometimes it is nice to have a break from more serious scrapping and just have fun!

I love "shopping" thru my stash and putting together my own little kit

for a color challenge and then having a sketch to go along with it!

I know it is a good one when things come together easily

and quickly and it is really relaxing to me!  It is nice to remember that!

Hope everyone has a safe & Happy Thanksgiving!



YOU ARE now entering 40...

Here it is...dah, dah, dah, dah...daaaaa.
After doing however many pages about my 30's, now that is over.
I'm OK with it, I guess, not really, no I am...maybe 40 makes you indecisive...:)
I don't feel 40.  Not mentally.  Physically , I do feel...older.

It is what it is....can't stop time.
All I have to do is look at my 8 going on 13 year old to remind myself.

This was a photo taken by myself, I think, with my phone.
We had some close friends over for my birthday and it was lots of fun...
SO much fun, that I didn't do a very good job of documenting it.



I actually had this project laid out in my head for the Color Me Scrappy
Challenge that combines a set of colors with a word = enter.
Perfect for entering this new phase, decade, downhill slope, whatever you want to call it!

I ended up using, sort of, the Sunday Sketch that I was asked to use for
Studio Calico, just in case I didn't like my first LO for that project.

These are my kind of colors and what better way to use that drink stain stamp
of Kelly Purkey's, than on a page about a party...
Here is the link to the CMS blog post:
http://color-me-scrappy.blogspot.com/2012/11/challenge-16.html

LOViEw...Sunday Sketch Studio Calico

I was asked to do the Sunday Sketch at Studio Calico using a sketch
based on one of Marcy Penner's layouts...I was absolutely thrilled to be asked!
And aside from being a fantastic sketch, I love Marcy's style...
very clean, laid back, simple & intricate all at the same time.

I changed the sketch up quite a bit to fit my photos and to get a vertical
title.  I used a play on words for the title...Love View -
of Sam looking thru my book mark which he had just bent...ahem.

Anyway, sometimes I really love sketches where there aren't a whole
lot of restrictions. I kind of use it to clean up my desk and use all the teeny
bits and pieces of this or that, that I refuse to throw away.

I have bowls and bowls and little boxes full of the positive or negative pieces 

from various cuts I used with my Silhouette...lots of stars, hearts and leaves.

I had this sweet little vellum coin envelope from Jillibean Soup 

and decided to scoop up all those hearts and dump them in!

I used several other scraps and odd things like pieces of tags, a paint chip

for the green color I was trying to convince my husband to let me 

paint in the laundry room...a piece of muslin fabric I tested out some stitching on

and carious other tags pieces of paper I tucked here and there.

go climb a tree...Page Maps Sketch

I have so many new projects planned and new products to be used, that I 

desperately trying to work thru some piles!  I loved this paper by 

Studio Calico that is large brown overlapping scallops on one side

and a vibrant red wood grain on the opposite. The scallops reminded me 

of scales at first, but then a little like tree bark.  

I had this photo of Sofia that my Mother-in-law took one day when 

they went to the park and Sofia climbed up a tree...she is a little monkey like!

Anyway, it was after we had just been to the doctor for a bad scrape

that got worse and started to look infected to me.  Turned out it was Staph

infection and pretty bad.  It had to be drained with a needle out of her 

arm and then carefully watched to make sure it didn't need to be drained

again.  That was one of the worst doctor's appointments in my 8 years as a mother.

She was brave, but let's fast it, it was nasty, scary and a BIG 'ol needle.  Ugh.

She survived and I am sure there was some sort of ice cream of sweet treat

used as bribery for a brave face, not to mention not scaring the crap out of everyone

in the waiting room... :o  But after all that mess was over, Nonna came in to save

the day, took them to a park and Sofia was right back at it, climbing all over the 

place and right back up a tree...

I used the November Kit from Scrapbook Circle and a couple tags,
the Elle's Studio journaling tag and a couple stamps of my own.
I also used the sketch from the Ruby Rock-It sketch challenge on www.pagemaps.com
 which I turned upside down so my photo could be on the right.
Here is the link to their blog post:
http://www.pagemaps.blogspot.com/2012/11/ruby-rock-it-sketch-contest.html

life is a journey...Little Black Dress Kit November

So, other than a vintage photo, this has to be the picture in
my pile to be scrapbooked that has been there the longest.
I think I might have been nervous about documenting it until recently.
 Sort of when people don't want to share a birthday wish with
the superstition that is wont come true if you don't keep it secret.

But last month, my Mom, myself and my 5 year old son walked in the
Breast Cancer Awareness Walk together, and it made me decide that
I needed to get around to finally documenting this!

This photo was from my Mother's 60th surprise birthday party, 11 months
after being diagnosed with breast cancer, having surgery and undergoing
that life sucking thing doctor's call "treatment"...Isn't it odd how many people
are diagnosed with the cancer whose month it is of awareness??
Anyway, her hair had started to grow back in, baby soft, and I thought it
looked fantastic...short, cropped, very hip!  And was a very successful surprise!

This was using the Little Black Dress Kit Club November Kit and
although I do love the way the LO turned out, it is a bit more fussy than
my normal style...at least I think so.  But, considering how colorless and
tasteless life seems during chemo, I thought it only appropriate to incorporate
 as much color and "life" into this LO as possible.

That may be WAY too much of a psychological reach for something like this, 
but I once read something Jen Gallagher had written about scrapbooking
as a form of dealing with loss.  I guess in a way that is what this was for me...
I didn't lose my mother then, and thankfully, she is still cancer free, but I
think I lost some of my naivete and hope that life is all roses...
probably why it took me so long to build up the courage to commit to it...

I recently cut almost all my hair off, 10 inches to donate to Locks of Love...
I would like to do it again, but not sure how much demand there is for
 strawberry blond hair that is starting to turn grey :(

To learn more or to help fund a free mammogram to someone less
fortunate than ourselves, check out the site...
http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=2

BINGO!...Little Black Dress Kit November

Since movie night is our Friday night tradition, I think Bingo is becoming
our Saturday night tradition...unless it is football season!

The kids love to play!  I love to play and that is mostly because
it is all chance and I don't have to break up any fights depending on who
the loser is.  The kids love it but I think more than playing, it is about
who is going to get to spin the ball and call the numbers.
That has to be agreed upon before we play or there will be anarchy.

This was using the November Kit from Little Black Dress Kit Club and
since it was filled with lots of products from the October Afternoon Midway
collection it was easy to get inspired!  I can't get enough woodgrain either.
Woodgrain and chevrons will stay in my heart long after they are done trending!

Part of the ephemera in this month's kit was a few little round chips,
one with numbers on it like it could be for Bingo.
I put lots of Glossy Accents on those chips to make them look like they were Bingo
chips and that way they matched the epoxy word stickers from Glitz as well...

KeeP My PLaCe...Little Black Dress Kit November

It is amazing to watch a 5 year old discover the independence of being able to read
a book to THEMselves!!  And all the things that go along with it, like not
wanting to stop reading when it is time to go to bed; like wanting to read the
same story over and over and over; like asking how to say a word about 5 million
times, and then asking what it means; like wanting to read every street sign, every
billboard, restaurant name and bumper sticker while driving down the road!

It is all good and I feel even more appreciative watching it the second time around,
realizing exactly what it means in terms of your growing independence.
And then it makes me a little sad and weepy because it makes me think of how fast
you are growing up.   Okay, enough of that.

This is one of the layouts from the November Little Black Dress Kit Club.
I love this TO DO: list that was included as part of the ephemera package
and since your Kindergarten teacher has said that all we should concentrate
on right now is you reading as much as possible and trying to cultivate that
love for reading, I thought it would be great to stamp it on every day!