Summer 2007 Album . . .

Last summer one of my biggest goals was to complete my Summer 2007 album before we left for Hawaii. Well lo and behold, I made my goal with about 5 days to spare! If you want to take a peak, you can see it in its entirety here. I must honestly admit, I love this album. In fact it actually is two albums because I ended up doing 56 8x8 layouts. Also thought I would share some of my favorite layouts that I have never posted on the blog before . . . .

Playing euchre while in the Outer Banks. Used a lot of older SEI papers for this layout which was inspired by a layout in the first KI idea book.

Used some of the new SEI Dill Blossom papers. When my cousin Carole came to visit the end of June, she brought all of these older family prints that were so much fun to look at.

Layout about the motel we stayed at while in San Clemente with Cathe and Jude. I really thought the old KI Fire line went well the Spanish inspired architecture.

Another layout inspired by the first KI idea book. The layout is about my trip to MIS with Mark and our 100+ mph drive around the track. Hated the first lap and got into the 'groove' the second lap.

Layout inspired by a Becky Fleck page map from her latest idea book that I bought this past summer. Funny how you start out thinking a layout is going to look one way and it ends up looking totally different when its finished.

Used Love, Elsie Jack + Abby papers for this layout which was inspired by a sketch found on the Lifetime Moments website.

Fun layout about our night of mixing daiquiris and sitting around the condo laughing all evening.

Both of these layouts were done using old Chatterbox papers. Still love those older room collections. First layout is based on a Valerie Salmon sketch and the second layout is based on a Becky Fleck mini-map.

Layout about my dislike of any and all things fish related!

Layout using some of the SEI Chick-a-Doo papers I got in an LM monthly kit in April. Kind of a scary picture of Cathe but really needed to do a layout about the amazing breakfasts we had will staying at the Kingsleigh Inn.

This has to be one of my absolute favorite layouts in the entire album. Got the idea from the Little Red Scrapbook website and the papers came from one of their monthly kits.

Layout about losing our car at the Columbus airport upon our return from Maine last summer.

Layout was 'lifted' from a layout I found on Two Peas. Love all the different Thickers, chipboard, and stickers I used for the 30s. Well that's it for tonight. Have a good evening everyone!

Right Now It Is . . . .

81 degrees out! Come on folks . . . this is October 13 . . . Maybe 61 degrees but not 81! Went to the Lost Land Corn Maze down in Sidney yesterday. The sky was blue, there was a light breeze in the air, and it was 86 degrees out. Way, way too hot!! And to top it all off, I forgot my camera so I had to resort to taking pictures with my iPhone. How funny is that?

Ended up not scrapping again over the weekend . . . the creative juices simply stopped flowing. This means I will have to share my favorite layout from this summer . . .

Isn't it the cutest picture ever? Leslie and Aiden went with Judy and I down to Westerville for Josh's final performance at band camp the first week in August. Before the show started I was just taking pictures of Aiden as he walked around and I fell in love with this one. He was waving at everyone and everything he saw . . . too too cute! Used two of my favorite products again, Scenic Route's Liberty papers and American Crafts Thickers.

Not a whole lot else going on here. Think I'll head to bed early tonight and DVR Dancing with the Stars and Samantha Who? Monday's are kind of draining . . . . Have a great day everyone!

Will Wonders Never Cease . . . .

I actually scrapped yester-day! Did this layout for the Tarragon Scrap-pers October 1st challenge to use a 3-D embellishment, and I am really happy with the final result. Inspired by this Valerie Salmon sketch which worked perfectly to document the approximate miles we flew this past summer on our vacation to Hawaii. Used mostly American Crafts products from the Travel collection on the layout. But then as quickly as that creative juice flowed, it ceased to flow any more . . . bummer. Hope to scrap some more today . . . we'll see . . .

Not a whole lot else going on here. Mark and I worked in the garage for an hour Saturday. Hate to admit it but we still have boxes that need to be emptied from our move 2 years ago. Got all of his dad's slides up over the garage too. You know I hate to rush into anything; have to remember . . . slow and easy wins the race.

Yesterday was the "Shawnee Showcase" band competition at the high school. Went and watched about four bands perform including our own Shawnee 'Band of One'. My nephew, Josh, now marches in the band, so it is fun getting back into the swing of things with band competitions and the like. Once again this year, the band will be heading to state competition the end of the month. Hopefully they will be able to keep their string of winning performances going with a Superior rating come October 26th. Took my camera to the first competition back the first part of September. Got lots of great shots of Josh and made this layout for my 2008 family album. The theme for this year's show is based around patriotic photos, so Scenic Route's Liberty papers definitely fit the bill. Once again, this layout is a total scraplift of the fantastic Miranda over at Lifetime Moments. You can see her original layout here.

Looks like another beautiful day here today in Limaland. Yesterday it got up into the 80s and there is more of the same forecast for today. Hard to believe that it is the middle of October and it is still 80 and sunny out.

Well folks, I'm out of here . . . Have a beautiful Sunday!

6 Months, 8 Days, . . . .

Long time no see . . . . I really do enjoy blogging . . . . Can't really say why I haven't blogged in eons . . . . Since we last met, life has been hectic, calm, fun, sad, and filled with many beginnings and endings. Over the next couple of weeks I'll fill you all in on all the happenings, the good, the bad, and the ugly . . . .

Been kind of in a scrapping slump of late. I always seem to go in spurts when I scrap and buy like crazy and then usually the scrapping part falls off but the buying part continues. However of late, the scrapping and the buying part both have slumped. I'm still receiving two monthly kits each month, Lifetime Moments and Scarlet Lime, and those have actually been enough to wet my purchasing desires each month. Also have all the new October Afternoon (Good Cheer, Night Light, and Weathervane) on preorder at LM which hopefully will be here shortly. October Afternoon is one of my new favorite products lines and I am definitely looking forward to the preorder arrival.

Well folks, I if I want to scrapping slump to lift, I had best get a move on. I'll leave you all with a layout from last April . . . Aiden eating his birthday cake. Isn't he the cutest thing ever and looking at this layout makes me smile. Hope it does the same for you . . . .

Have a great Saturday everyone! It looks like it will be a beautiful day here!

Just Some Food for Thought . . .

Found this on-line this morning . . . Something I think about every now and then.

Cartoon by Dave Walker.

Streak to the Finish . . .

This NASCAR season Mark and I have started a weekly NASCAR competition. Each race week we have to choose a driver who is going to finish in the top 10 for that week. If your driver does finish in the top 10, then you earn the points that that driver won for that week. Finally, if you choose a driver and he ends up in the top 10, you can't use that driver again as long as you are on a "streak". (Clear as mud, right?) Anyway, right now I am winning! Yesterday I picked a top 10 driver for the second week in a row. So far this year I have had already had one 3-week streak and I am currently watching Mark "eat my dust" with a score of 853 points to 175 points. I played this game last summer on NASCAR.com and by mid-season I was doing quite well. There was even one week when I was on an 8-week streak and stood about 35th in the nation! Not too bad if I do say so myself.

My sister Cathe sent me this link for a cute video/song sung by the Statler Brothers. Enjoy your Monday!

Dreary Day . . .

here in Lima today. Overcast and 45 degrees but what else is new . . . Kate called this morning and admonished me for not keeping this blog up to date . . . and I was doing so well.

Since we last met . . .

• we had our biggest snow storm of the year on March 7 and 8
• Mark and I, along with my brother Dick, went to Bristol for Dale Jarrett's last points race March 14 and 15
  
• watched Aiden for a day when Leslie ran into some sitter problems
  
• spent a day scrapbook shopping with Lori March 21
  
• scrapped a grand total of TWO pages

• Aiden came to visit me at school last week along with both Leslie and Kate
  
• IEP season is in full force
  
• ate out too much


• still working on losing the pounds I put on in February
  
• only 84 days until we leave for Hawaii
• Spring Break has come and gone

So there you have it . . . my life in "bullets"

Seating here watching Race Day on the Speed channel. Still haven't gotten dressed this morning. Have a roast in the crock pot and need to finish up my last two IEPs. Also trying to come up with some inspiration to scrap some. Worked most of yesterday on a mini book that I ended up throwing out . . . I used way too much ink and it ended up getting all over everything. UGH!

Have a great Sunday!

The Creative Juices . . .

sure aren't flowing this weekend. I spent the better part of yesterday afternoon simply staring a the layout I was trying to do with February's 12 on 12 photos. Zip, zero, nada was happening! Tried to take a different approach this morning and still nothing . . . UGH!! Maybe someone is trying to tell me something since I really need to be working on my 2nd trimester grades which are due next Wednesday . . . .

Well yesterday brought to the end a unique era in my life . . . . I ported my Alltel phone number over to AT&T. Loving my iPhone and now I have my old phone number back.

So, since I am in a creative slump of sorts, thought I would share this layout with you all that I did last week-end. Got the idea from the March issue of Creating Keepsake and a layout by Elizabeth Kartchner. Love the large circle and I even pulled out the ole sewing machine to stitch around the outside of the circle.

Well, I should get going on with those grades . . . Have a great day everyone!

Falling Back Into My Old Habits . . .

of not blogging that is! Sorry about that. No excuse.

If you all don't mind, I would like to go back to my post on February 22nd. Guess what I forgot to post about? No, it wasn't the 28th anniversay of the USA hockey team's victory over Russia, even though that did happen on February 22, 1980 too, but it was Kate's 28th birthday! Can't believe my 'baby' is acutally 28! Where has the time flown? Even though this layout is from last year . . . . Happy Birthday Kate!

Speaking of Kate, she drove into town on Saturday and surprised Mark and I with a visit. Leslie was also in along with Aiden and we all went to Ruby Tuesday for lunch. Loving their mini Ruby burgers! Ordered those along with the salad bar. However, don't get the strawberry lemonade . . . . didn't care for it at all. Definitely not with the $3.29 price tag. It was great sitting with the girls and enjoying a meal out . . . just like old times!

Well, the past 2 days school has been canceled due to snow. I bet we got over 5 inches of snow Monday night and early Tuesday. And it looks like we might have gotten another 3 inches last night. Probably our biggest snow storm of the winter season. When is this going to stop? I am tired of it already!

Spent a good part of yesterday scrapping and getting caught up on programs I have recorded on my DVR. Made this layout for Lifetime Moments weekly sketch chall-enge. Very happy with the final product. Picture was taken a couple of weeks ago when we all went to Kate and Jaime's to celebrate Kate and my birthdays. The picture is a bit out of focus but I absolutely love the look on Aiden's face. Isn't he the coolest kid ever?

Guess that is about it for today . . . Have a great day everyone!

Friday Morning and . . .

we are currently on a two hour delay!! Right on! Since I took my car into the shop today and it is Mark's Friday off, he was going to have to drive me into work this morning. Looks like he has a slight reprieve. Kind of have my fingers crossed for a cancellation today. It has been a rough week with disciplines and all.

Thought I would show off a couple more of my creations this past weekend. Both of these layouts are once again for my Summer 2007 album. This one is one of my favorites of late. It's a layout about all the different blueberry this and that you find in Maine. Cathe is holding up a blueberry martini, which she loved, and the blueberry pie we ate while in Freeport was to die for. As far as the actual layout goes, got the idea for all the tags along the side from a layout by Renee Camacho I found in the AL Designing with Color idea book. The papers are all from the current kit from Little Red Scrapbook that I have received. At first I wasn't real happy with what was sent this month and now I am loving the kit. This layout was the second time I have used these papers in a weekend.

Another layout I got finished was this one about the bed and breakfast we stayed in while in South-west Harbor, The Kingsleigh Inn. It is the same place Mark and I stayed in while in Maine during the summer of 2006. Love this place! In fact I would love to swing a stay there sometime this year too, but I don't think it is going to work out. Layout inspired by a Lisa McGarvey layout I found in the Garden at 2Peas.

Guess that is about it for this morning. Think I'll pick up my scrap area . . . looks like a bomb went off in here. Have a great Friday everyone!