a few more SOY layouts

these are a few more of my SOY layouts from this past year. thought i'd take a quick break from working on HOF stuff to upload some pics to costco & to post here. :)

i've been in a super snacky mood today and have been contiplating yummy scrappin munchies. m&m's are sounding seriously good right now, but i've so far stuck to just craisins... i think i need to make some pumpkin muffins to take the edge off. oh! that gives me an idea... maybe i'll post my all time favorite pumpkin muffin recipe! :) ok... so i'll add it in a little bit... i just realized it's time to get my girls from the bus! :)

the pumpkin muffin recipe...

in a large bowl mix:
1 c. honey
1/2 c. canola oil
2/3 c. egg beaters (or 1 egg + 2 egg whites)
1 large can pumpkin

in a medium bowl mix:
3 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1/2 t. ground cloves
3/4 t. cinnamon
1 t. nutmeg

preheat oven to 400 degrees. spray 2 muffin tins (24 muffins total) with nonstick spray. mix wet & dry ingredients together. **optional** mix in 1 c. craisins. spoon into muffin tins. (i use an ice cream scoop.) bake 12 to 15 minutes.

if you're a weight watchers girl... they're 3 points each & they are really filling! :)

about a girl

here's a layout i did awhile back for a page call. it didn't get picked up, so here it is. :) there is a lot of journaling... i posted it since it's kind of hard to read on the layout. thanks for looking! :)

journaling:
my smile is weird. yes, weird! why you ask? because i have my terrible buck teeth nearly tucked behind my bottom teeth just so they won’t look like they stick out so much. i was a shy kid... the kind of kid that always wished they could figure out how “those people” - like her sister - could just walk right up and talk to anyone. around people i was comfortable with i was silly and spunky but whenever i was around bigger groups or new people, i was a wall flower. so much so that in 9th grade a girl who i had gone to school with since kindergarten asked if i was a new student. why did she ask me that? i have my theories... something happened in me... i’m not exactly sure of the date, but it happened sometime during seventh grade. i decided i was not going to be shy anymore. seems now like a funny decision for a kid to make, but i did. and from that day forward i made conscious efforts to be outgoing and friendly around anyone. now, this does NOT come naturally to some... and i was one of those “some”! since i was not naturally outgoing, i did not naturally self-regulate my outgoing-ness. i was over the top... way over... and to their credit my parents did not send me to a far away land during this time. it took a few years to come back to reality from “over the top,” but i did make the trip back. over time i learned how to be me, in front of others, not someone else. slowly those little voices that shouted out to me to sit back in the corner with your big buck teeth grew quieter. i’m sure the braces had a little something to do with that, but i know quite well that sometimes those voices are louder than reality. i still wear my heart on my sleeves a lot of the time, and my stomach gets butterflies when i walk into a room full of strangers, but i’ve managed to learn how to manage those feelings, and to let me shine through the curtain of self-doubt i hid behind for so many years. and i am a happier me.


Supplies: Blue patterned paper: Keri Schueller, Legacy Kit, scrapgirls.com; Black patterned paper and frame: Rhonna Farrer, Black Eyed Peas Kit and Snap Shot Frames Kit, twopeasinabucket.com; “Really” and edging brush: Katie Pertiet, Prompted Journalers Kit and Stamped Blocks Kit, designerdigitals.com; Fonts: Occidnetal and Nasty, downloaded from the internet, Garamond, Microsoft

a few pages

from my soy entry this past year

i'm back in the saddle again... and thank you everyone who left well wishes & prayers. believe me, they were very much appreciated this past week. i added a computer crash to my list of craziness this past week... so i've been a little absent with my posts. anyway, i'm busy working on a bunch of stuff but thought i'd post a few layouts from my SOY entry. some of the scans weren't that great... but they're what i've got. :) oh, did i mention my printer/scanner is what caused the computer crash??? lol! when it rains, it pours!

layout a day

the end

for the first 20 days of january, i have had a blast making a layout a day. my goal was to make it 31 days. but "real life" had different plans... came up from out of nowhere... and hit me in the back of the head. so the only thing left to do is to cut some of the extras and try to manage whats left. so the l.o.a.d. class is one thing that had to go. :sigh: i'm still planning on scrapping each day for the rest of the month... but not adding the deadline in. :) happy scrapping & and just enough reserve to stay afloat!

random silliness

so i saw this look-alike meter on emilie ahern's blog tonight, and thought it would be a fun random way to end my evening... loads of fun! :) and the morph thing is really just kinda creepy... it's amazing the random stuff you can find on the world wide web. have a great night!

layout a day

(day 20)

a layout i did for a little class using all stampin up supplies. :) tfl!

layout a day

(fatherhood album - page 10)
day 19

and that's a wrap... for this mini album, anyway. :)
very fun album to use lots of random pictures from the last couple of years on.
the quotes read, "it takes someone special to be a dad;" "the best teachers of humanity are the lives of great men. -charles h. fowler;" "the imprint of the father remains forever on the life of the child. -roy lessin"

supplies used on this album:
album: maya road chipboard binder; cardstock: bazzill; patterned paper: hambly (wood grain), stampin' up (orange'ish), hobby lobby (tan & cream), scenic route (orange), american crafts (white); cardstock stickers: 7 gypsies 97% complete; chipboard printed circles: imagination project; chipboard letter: grungeboard by tim holtz; stamps: inque boutique & basic grey (flourishes), link letters (alphabet stamps); eyelets & tag: stampin up; paper lace: creative imaginations; circle bling & ghost arrow: heidi swapp for advantus; acrylic paint: making memories; other: staples & sand paper

layout a day (fatherhood mini album - page 9) day 18

i'm nearly done with this mini album... just the bit on the back of the pic & the facing page. :) this is still one of my favorite pics...
the quotes read: "strength has a million faces," "i'm so glad when daddy comes home," "my hero," and "protector."

tfl! :)

layout a day (fatherhood mini album - page 8) day 17

another page in the fatherhood mini album... the stamped words got a little smudgie because i was a little to anxious to see how the album is flowing... oops! the picture is of my dh & girls watching our town's annual parade. :) the quote reads, "a dad carries pictures where his money used to be."

layout a day (fatherhood mini album - page 7) day 16

more than half way through the month now! wow! and 17 layouts to show for it so far! woohoo! nothing much to add about these pages... the quotes read: "it is admirable for a man to take his son fishing, but there is a special place in heaven for the father who takes his daughter shopping." and "a truly rich man is one whose children run into his arms when his hands are empty." did i mention how great the 7 gypsies stickers were for this project??? :)

tfl!

layout a day (fatherhood mini album pages 5 & 6) day 15

a couple of picture-less pages and layers for the fatherhood album. i'm really enjoying the new basic grey two scoops acrylic stamps. anyway, no crazy life & death slide stories to tell with these pages... (scroll to post below to relive my jungle playland experience).

layout a day

(fatherhood mini album - page 4)
day 14

pictures of silly fun times... roasting hot dogs & playing on one of those giant playland thingies. :) i can't be the only mom who has crawled through tunnels of a playland with her camera! (i just did it again on friday) i have the slide burn on my back to prove it!!! i mean, who listens to a bunch of 7 year olds tell you to go down the "black hole" slide cannon ball style to go faster??? apparently, ME! let me just tell you... as an adult who has recently tried this very stunt... it's not such a hot idea! you do race down the slide at super speeds, HOWEVER, if your shirt inches up at all, the slide will burn a good portion of the skin off your lower back on the way down. yowza! so the next time a 7 year old gives me advice on playland equipment... i think i will go with my gut, and slide down on my behind, which is ALWAYS covered!

oh right... weren't we talking about scrapbooking??? lol!

supplies used on this album so far:
album: maya road chipboard binder; cardstock: bazzill; patterned paper: hambly (wood grain), stampin' up (orange'ish), hobby lobby (tan & cream), scenic route (orange), american crafts (white); cardstock stickers: 7 gypsies 97% complete; chipboard printed circle: imagination project; stamps: inque boutique & basic grey (flourishes), link letters (alphabet stamps); eyelets & tag: stampin up; paper lace: creative imaginations; circle bling & ghost arrow: heidi swapp for advantus; acrylic paint: making memories; other: staples & sand paper

layout a day (fatherhood album - page 3) day 13

another page in the fatherhood album. the quote on this page reads, "there's no pillow quite so soft as a father's strong shoulder. -richard l. evans" this little page strikes a cord with me today... my husband has been gone a month and a half now... after talking to him this afternoon the girls said again how much they miss him. they talked about wanting to go camping... and could we go as soon as he comes home... so this picture of us camping together reminds me again of the joys of homecoming even amidst the sadness of taking all of the christmas decor down alone surrounded by nothing but laundry. this too shall pass... and there are brighter days ahead.

layout a day

page 2 of the fatherhood mini book
(day 12)

here is the next page in the fatherhood mini album. the quote sticker says... nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength. love that & so true of my handsome man. ;)

oh! and i love, love, love the creative imagination's paper lace! i've picked up every color i've been able to find! :)

tfl!

i was tagged by liv, susan & dawn... so here are my 7 random facts... :)

i drink about 1 pot of coffee a day (12 c. pot). why yes, mr. coffee, i would like another cup... ;)

i celebrated my 1 year anniversary as a weight watcher member this week

i'm not sure the last time i took less than 100 pictures in one sitting

i have so many piles on my desk(s), i have no more room for piles, so there are piles on the floor, piles on chairs, piles on shelves, piles on top of organizer stuff i got to help reduce the number of piles... :)

i have a serious love of the "demotivators" at despair.com... they always make me laugh. and we own every mug that they have made... (please! please! make some more despair!!!) :)

i subscribe to 13 different magazines (that's the number i came up with when i counted them up in my head... actual number may be higher.)

i love altoids dark chocolate covered mints. yummy!!!

digital brushes: jason gaylor; fonts: beyond wonderland, carpenter, century gothic

layout a day

(new mini album - day 11)

i know i didn't do a great job of getting the shots of this, but again, 2am is no time for great natural light! and it was easier to take the pics without the pages in the album. the chipboard album is by maya road. just keeping it simple. i picked up the 7 gypsies fatherhood paternite stickers today, then while surfing the web found some inspriration in an album done by ali edwards. :)

layout a day

(day 10)

another day, another layout. i just finished this of my fav pic of my youngest. it's from :gasp: 3 years ago. where did the time go? (i love those baby hand dimples she still has in this pic!) the inspiration came from a layout by scrapcited/hetti that i had tagged in my favs awhile back over in the ck gallery.

sheesh... i keep choosing pics of one kid... i think i'm gonna have to do some of torrey for the next few days! :)

supplies:
digital patterned paper: Katie Pertiet, Notebook kit, designerdigitals.com; Erica Hite, Skin Deep kit, scrapgirls.com; Susan Bartolini, This Christmas kit, scrapkitchen.com; overlay: Karen Foster Designs, Wedding Kit, pcLayers.com; ribbon: Zazau, shabbyprincess.com; distressing brushes: Rhonna Farrer, Peachy Keen kit, twopeasinabucket.com; Nancy Rowe Janitz, distressing ink, scrapartist.com; flourish brush: Rhonna Farrer, swirl brushes, twopeasinabucket.com; fonts: Cooper Std, Century

layout a day

(day 9)

i have a fabulous friend that i scrap via webcam with quite often and she has a saying that i just love... "they can't all be gems." lol! that's kind of how i feel about this layout. i crashed today... i finally hit an emotional/sleep deprived wall, and had to get some extra sleep. so i took a nap for a few hours this afternoon and am currently nursing a bit of a headache. so this page is of some pictures i loved, where the lighting isn't great, and it's hard to see the garbage can on my dd's head (in one of the pics she's winking too)... but this was the best that was going to come out today.

so here's to the scrapbook pages that can't be gems... you are loved, too! :wink: (thanks annie!)

oh and on a side note... the shirt my dd is wearing is a shirt that my grandma painted for me years ago that says, "noel joy." just a random fun fact. :)

tfl! :)

supplies:
patterned paper: Dana Zarling, desingerdigitals.com, Urban Grunge Kit 2; ledger brushes: Katie Pertiet, designerdigitals.com; fonts: Impact, Century Gothic & German Underground

layout a day

(day 8)

i'm not going to write much now... since it's 4am, and that means it's time for bed. so here is my LOAD day 8.

edited to add: it's now nearly 12 hours and a little power nap later... and i've got the journaling & supply list up. :)

journaling:
the bestest birthday present ever
except, of course, for the present you got me mom
i mean, of course yours was the
coolest, it’s just that this one is
so cool too. i mean, nothing
personal... it’s just well, i mean
hey! it’s a digital camera! how can
a cool american girl doll hairstyle
chair compare?

grandpas & grandmas get to be so cool
emma with her bestest birthday present... a brand new
digital camera from grandpa gene & grandma linn

supplies:
digital patterned papers: Mandy Steward, scrapgirls.com (green), Dana Zarling, designerdigitals.com (pink), Anna Aspnes, designerdigitals.com (brown); overlays & stitched cirlces: Rhonna Farrer, twopeasinabucket.com; stitched hole flourishes: Katie Pertiet, designerdigitals.com; fonts: Garamond & Arial

layout a day - time for change

so i finished up the acrylic album i was working on yesterday, and haven't quite decided what i'd like to work on next. the other day i got a new pottery barn catalog in the mail, and their color & design are such an inspiration to me. so the layout for today is a color scheme hijack from the pb caddy. it started with different pics... but ended with the one of my dd's just before they started school this fall.



supplies:
digital patterned paper: Keri Schueller, scrapgirls.com (blue),Nancy Rowe Janitz, scrapartist.com (gray/blue), Glitz Designs - Hot Mama Kit (zebra), erica hite, scrapgirls.com; (green); architectural brush: Thao Cosgrove, scrapgirls.com; brad: Gina Cabera, digitaldesignessentials.com; fonts: Century Gothic & Arial Bold

layout a day (page 10)

this is the last page of this acrylic album. i'm a little bummed... 1. because it was really fun to make and 2. because now i'm not sure what i'm going to make for my layout a day tomorrow! lol! :)

sorry for the poor picture quality... the natural lighting isn't hot at 1:30am! i should be cleaning my house and baking a cake for my dd's birthday party tomorrow... but it was just too fun to resist finishing this up! well, since midnight has obviously come and gone, i best get off to my cinderella jobs! lol!

supplies:
acrylic album: rusty pickle; printed transparencies & rub ons: hambly; blank transparency: stampin up; crown bling: me & my big ideas; cardstock circle sticker: creative imaginations; letter stickers: basic grey (cream & orange), ek success (black)

layout a day (pages 8 & 9)

a few more pages for the layout a day class. i think this is the first "kissing picture" of my husband and me that i have ever scrapped. kind of fun. he's such a cutie. ;) the lyrics are from a song called kiss me by sixpence none the richer. tfl!

supplies:
acrylic album: rusty pickle; transparencies & yellow rub on: hambly; flowers: prima; uncensored rub on: october afternoon; printed tape: prima; brad: stampin up; font: garamond

layout a day (pages 6 & 7)

so here are pages 6 & 7... i am having so much fun with this album. it's so not as intimidating to do a clear album as i thought it would be. i'm so glad this is the sb project i started the year with!

i'm also totally loving the glitz frosting rhinestones. they're mold-able into almost any shape! and the glue stuff on the back sticks really well to the acrylic.

supplies:
acrylic album: rusty pickle; die cut paper & flower: making memories; transparencies: hambly (green flourish), my mind's eye (blue paint outline); printed tape: prima; rhinestones: glitz frosting; rub on: october afternoon; tag: impress rubber stamps; super dad stamp: a muse rubber stamps

layout a day

(pages 4 & 5)

just finished pages 4 & 5 of my acrylic album dedicated to my wonderful husband for the get a LOAD of this class at big picture scrapbooking. these were fun to make... i used my crop-a-dile on acrylic for the first time... and it punches holes "like butter." i just love that thing! and had some fun with the "c team" thing... the culbertson team? take off the "a team"? or the ones that didn't qualify for the "b" team? guess we'll never know!

have a great day!

supplies: album: rusty pickle; patterned paper: making memories (die cut), scenic route (orange), stampin up (blue flower); rub-ons: american crafts mini marks ("team" and "&"), 7 gypsies ("always"), creative imaginations ("forever"), printed transparency: my mind's eye; ghost letter & bling circle: heidi swapp for advantus; cherish stamp, flower punch & black ink: stampin up; flowers: making memories (yellow), prima (turquoise); brad: creative imaginations; white ink: stazon by tsukineko, acrylic paint: making memories; other: staples

layout a day pages 2 & 3

pages two and three for my layout a day class over at big picture scrapbooking.

supplies: acrylic album: rusty pickle; orange paper: rhonna farrer for autumn leaves; cardstock: memory box; printed transparency & yellow rub-on: hambly; acrylic paint: making memories; word rub-ons: october afternoon; papaer lace: creative imaginations; bling circles: heidi swapp for advantus; individual bling: me & my big ideas; pen: sharpie

when you least expect it...

i admit it, i haven't looked in my girls' backpacks since they went on christmas break. we put them in the closet, did their daily reading, and aside from that... have just had fun. so when i was checking tonight to make sure that everything was in order in their backpacks... this is what i found in my youngest daughter's backpack.

she is in kindergarten, and they have 5th grade buddies that do little activities with them. one of them is to help them write a letter to santa, and then they get one back... from "santa". this was her letter... and the letter she received back. left me in tears... and not really sure what else i should say. just seemed to need to get my thoughts down while they were piled up here in the lump that is in my throat.

now i'm going to go give her an extra hug & kiss.

the king of our castle

i joined the get a L.O.A.D. of this (LayOut A Day) FREE class over at big picture scrapbooking the other day. today was the first day of class. there are no real rules... just to scrapbook a page a day & to have fun. two of my most favorite things! :) so i decided to try something new & make my first acrylic album. so here is the cover & page 1... they are so much fun!!! i'm totally loving it. it's a very different animal when your pages interact with each other. anyway, just thought i'd share my first day of class project. oh! and happy first day of '08!

supplies: acrylic album: rusty pickle; printed transparency & yellow rub-on: hambly; printed tape: prima; cardstock circle sticker: creative imaginations; fabric label & acrylic paint: making memories; letter stickers: ek success (small rectangles) and basic grey (orange letters); word rub-ons: october afternoon; plain transparency: stampin up

Happy 2008!

it's just past 3am on january 1st... and i wanted to take a minute to say happy new year to anyone who happens to stop by. i watched the fireworks at midnight from my deck. they were gorgeous. i spent the evening with my dad watching movies... my dear husband is on his way to a new location, i'll find out for sure where he's going when he gets there. although i'm pretty sure i know. :) (oh the joys of the military life!) my girls are sound asleep in my bed, and i think i am going to go kiss them goodnight & wish them a happy new years in their sleep.


but i think i'll head to bed with my new year's resolutions put down "on paper." i'm sure i'll think of more as the day & year move on... but for starters... here's my list. :)

do something creative daily

keep the weight that i lost in 07 off

send out greeting, birthday, and just because cards on time

clean my house more often

play more

wishing you a happy new year
filled to overflowing!