Old Times

One of the best parts about not scrapbooking chronologically is that I get to flip through years of photos to find something new to scrap about- and I discover old pictures and stories that I get to reminisce over! These pictures make my husband and I laugh because of that stupid swing... We found out we were pregnant when we lived in Idaho- just months before moving to Turkey. We knew that it would be slim pickin's as far as baby supplies go so we scrambled at the last minute to buy as much baby furniture as possible before the movers came to pack up our house. It was stressful but totally worth it as we were so right- there was hardly anything to choose from once we got there.
Anyway, with all that, we were so glad to have the swing- because every baby needs one! Well, except Luke who absolutely HATED it. We tried and tried but it would take five minutes and he wanted OUT! It's funny now, but when you're an exhausted mother running on no sleep and recovering from a c-section it was a paaaaain. =)  It really just sat in our living room the entire time we lived in Turkey laughing at us.

Oh, that Luke.
Anyway, I'm working on some Project Life goodness and hope to have that up this weekend! If I'm not back before then, Happy New Year!

Christmas Recap

I had a fun advent calendar page go up on the Pebbles blog yesterday- just my quick way to recap the holiday with a lot of photos and journaling without a lot of work.

This way I can continue to focus on my December Daily but still include a little glimpse in our regular albums as well.
I've also been working on a lot of cards- I haven't been able to get good photos lately without my flash bounce so I'll just share the one for now:

(This uses American Craft's Garden Cafe line and the stamp is from Papertrey Ink.)
Anyway, just this quick post today so I can get back to scrapbooking while my son is still entertaining himself! Have a great day!

Gearing up for Project Life

I hope all of you had a very merry Christmas! We had such a good time- this year Luke was actually excited to see what was under the wrapping paper, rather than just playing with the bows! We made the mistake of getting too many things that were just a little bit too old for him, so our day was spent trying to repeatedly show him how everything worked. =)
Anyway, with the new year approaching, I have decided to jump on board with Project Life. However, I'll tell you up front- we are NOT exciting people. We prefer routine around here, so it may end up being sparse. Yeah, we are in Germany so there might be the occasional travel opportunity, but I'll take pajamas and sleeping over an event any day!
Even so, I've come up with a few things to focus on to help me fill in some of those spots from week to week. The first thing is funny things Luke says. He's 2 so I'm sure there will be plenty of that! I will make one card a week specifically for this and I'll keep it laying around the living room so I can fill it in as soon as something is said. The things that Luke is learning will be really great to have as well- I just haven't been so good at writing down his milestones but PL will help remind me to do so.
The next thing is our weekly menu. We have a tendency to fall in a food rut so I'm hoping this will encourage me to branch out a few times a week and try something new. I know seeing tacos repeated so often will definitely help snap me out of it! 
So once I convinced myself that this is a worthy project regardless of how "not busy" we are, I began putting together my supplies. Here are some of the things I will be using:


We R Memory Keepers Page Protectors - Multi Pack


I wanted a good variety of page protectors to choose from, so I will also be adding in the occasional 6"x12" protector as well- these will be good for memorabilia, menus, programs, etc.
For papers, I thought long and hard trying to figure out which line I wanted to work with all year long. First I thought about American Craft's Chap line because it's my absolute favorite right now, but I didn't want to have to buy a lot up front or have to worry about running out near the end. My solution? Digital papers. This way, I'll always have them around, can print them as needed, and can even make some modifications to make my own journaling cards or embellishments. I've picked Pink Paislee's Circa 2012:

 (You can pick this up at JessicaSprague.com). Isn't this perfect? The journaling spots alone will make the process really easy and I love that the papers are neutral enough for any time of year. I'll be printing as needed, rather than keeping a collection somewhere- just so I don't have to worry about storing anything I don't need to.
I'll also be trying my hardest to pull items from my stash. I have plenty of small embellishments that should work well and it will help me to declutter this year.
I'll check back with you in a couple days to show you some more of my Project Life beginning stages!

Christmastime slump.

I started my DD, have a page or two done and I'm already feeling burnt out. Anyone else?
So, rather than stare blankly at it, I decided to get back to making pages. It feels like it's been a long time!
I put this together really quickly, even pulled out my sewing machine.

(Sorry for the bad photo, I've seem to have lost my beloved flash bounce).
Anyway, about my DD, I think I've decided that I'll keep taking photos for it, but I likely won't get back to it until after Christmas. I feel like that way I can focus on the holiday and be more committed later!

Whew, I'm back!

Sorry for being SO quiet last month- I'm finally home, settled in, and getting back to crafting! We've been getting into the holiday spirit around here with decorating, baking, and shopping- and I've opted to do a December Daily this year. I'm taking more of a loose approach- I won't organize it by day as we don't do something Christmasy EVERY day, but I'll be sure to capture the important things like our family traditions. I'm already late to the party as we're already a week into December, but I'm hoping to catch up this weekend. Today, I finished the cover to give me a little more motivation to get crackin'.

Nothing too fancy, but simple and clean- just my style. I wanted to make sure I didn't layer too much, that way it will be able to sit next to other albums on a shelf nicely.
I started with a single coat of Modge Podge just to give it a bit of a finished shine, then adhered the Crate paper (my favorite Christmas paper EVER).

I'm not usually big on glitter, but I think it works nicely here and helps tie everything together. (By the way, I'm using the December Daily kit from Studio Calico, plus a lot of other bits and pieces I ordered online).
I'd probably have a little more of this album done if it weren't for this other project I've been working on...

This is the Silhouette Advent calendar (sorry, they're sold out now!) and it was so much fun to put together! I just started going for it without much of a plan, putting together boxes as I had time. I used mostly American Crafts' Hollyday line for this, as well as Pebbles Welcome Christmas and Crate's Peppermint. I love how it came together. The best part about this, though, is that since I have all the templates for the boxes on my computer now, I can change this up every year if I want to! Now to fill it with goodies...
Well friends, thanks for stopping by and being patient with my infrequent posts. I promise- I'm back and will post more often now!

Ready for Valentine's Day??

I haven't even put Christmas decorations up yet but man, I'm itching to get some Valentine's made. This new Pebbles line is TOO cute. Seriously. The heart paper I used on this page is my favorite ever.

And, I used my Cameo for the first time with that swirly heart border on the top- man I love that thing and can see many hours in my future glued to the Silhouette. Hopefully I can get some scrap time when I'm home from vacation!

Grateful Mini

Hi Friends!
Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving, got to do some Black Friday shopping, and are starting to pull out your Christmas decorations! I'm still on vacation enjoying my break from real life. =) We are headed back next week and once we're over jet lag, I should be back to posting regularly.

Yesterday I had a mini album go up on the Pebbles blog featuring the last little bits of the Fresh Goods line that I still had. I love making minis that use up scraps!

For this album, I decided to share some things that I am thankful for this year. I have a lot of blank pages in the back so as something else comes up, I can add it in. I dated it with 2011 so I can make one of these each year and continue to document the things I am thankful for year 'round.
Thanks for stopping by!