Layout of the Week - Believe Achieve (my words for 2010)

I just have to say, I love this layout.  It isn't very often as scrapbookers that we create layouts about themselves.  At the beginning of this year, I read a lot of different blog posts about finding a word for yourself for the year.  The word would be your theme word, giving you something to focus on throughout the year.  I started to think about myself and all the things I've done in my life and the things I'd like to do in the future.  Being the mom of a two year old, it has been a while since I've thought about my own goals or even thought much about myself at all.  I was just starting to get back to thinking about me when Delaney turned 6 and was at the end of her year of 1/2 day kindergarten.  It was nice to look ahead at the things I could start to do for me once she started school full time in September of 2007.  And then suddenly my world was turned upside down.  I found out I was pregnant with Jake in June of 2007, just a week before Delaney was done with kindergarten.  It was quite a shock after about 5 years trying to conceive and then coming to terms with our being a 3 person family.  I still can picture the look on Dave's face when Delaney & I told him we'd be having a baby.  I'll tell you more of this story another time, but suffice it to say, shock doesn't even come close.  So my thoughts took an about face, away from what I wanted to do with the "rest of my life" and toward raising another little one.

As I was reading these "word of the year" blog posts in January, I thought maybe I should think about me a little sooner this time and not wait until Jake was going to be in first grade...for goodness sake, I'll be 43 by then.  Here's my first Believe Achieve blog post.  And the thought of turning 40 this year also added to my eagerness to make plans that were mine alone.  For years, I've been involved in scrapbooking in some way, working on albums at home, helping my friend with projects, working at Whimzee's, writing my blog.  I also began another of my efforts at being healthier and losing weight this year.

Being someone who isn't short on words, I couldn't narrow my choices down to just one.  For my 2010 words of the year, I chose Believe and Achieve.  I chose them even before I walked into Jake's room to get him up from his nap and saw those exact words stenciled on a plaque on the wall in his room.  Dave chose it at a baby boutique when we were shopping for bedding & decorations for his room.  It hangs over his crib and someday we'll explain to him what they mean...right now, he just enjoys pointing out that there is an "A" on the sign.

These words are important for me to remember this year, because I have a few goals for myself.  I want to expand my blog and find a sponsor or two (if anyone has any suggestions, bring 'em on!) and I hope to be chosen for a Design Team of some sort in 2010.  I also want to continue with my efforts to work out, eat healthier and by doing those things, lose some weight.  One more important goal, for the whole family really, is to make smart money choices.

I think that I am moving toward all these goals, but I do have to remind myself everyday, that I have to Believe in myself and make efforts in order to Achieve them this year.  I created this layout to highlight my words and remind myself everyday of what I am working toward.  I challenge you to find a theme word or two, even three or four, who's counting.

In creating a layout that highlights my words, I wanted to use some of my favorite products.  The papers are from Lily Bee and the embellishments are from all sorts of places.  I wanted to show contrast in this layout.  Not only am I a mom and wife, I also have personal and professional goals outside of my family.  These goals will benefit my family in many ways, but they are my goals.  I chose to create contrast in my layout by placing the rhinestone "BELIEVE" on a distressed piece of corrogated cardboard.  The rhinestone title also contrasts nicely with the slick orange "ACHIEVE."  I created depth by using a cardboard circle covered with word filled paper.  I used pop dots to raise my photo above the background.  Again highlighting my words, I used Photoshop to print them on my photo.

I love this photo of me.  I asked my friend, Pandra, to shoot a photo of me to send in with a design team application.  I was planning on changing & doing my hair first, but she just got out her camera one night when we were hanging out with friends.  They started telling jokes & I couldn't keep a straight face.  It just all went downhill from the very beginning....  This first photo was the best of the bunch!  Thanks P! :)

Tips

Think of a theme word for the year & remind yourself of it everyday!

Create a layout or project highlighting your word and place it somewhere you will see it everyday!

Don't be afraid to create contrast with by using totally different embellishments in your layouts.  Rhinestone & cardboard...glitter & slick plastic.

Have a friend shoot some photos of you and create a layout that shows your personality or how you felt that day!

Supplies

Patterned Paper - Lily Bee
Rhinestone Title - Kaisercraft
ACHIEVE & 2010 - THICKERS by American Crafts
Paint - a variety of craft paints

This post shared on Today's Creative!  Be sure to check them out for links to all things creative and the best features of creative blogs on the internet!

Layout of the Week - I Love Your SMILE!

I was so excited to see the challenge handed out by the ladies at the Ella Publishing blog. They were looking for layout submissions with the title, "I Love Your Smile." That was the only criteria, just use that title. I think karma brought me to this gleeful photo of Delaney. For the past couple weeks, I've been designing baby layouts for my next beginning scrapbooking class, so I had a pack of photos of Jake when he was first born right there on the table. When I saw this page call, I flipped through the photos to see if any of them fit the title. And boy, this one jumped right out at me. This is THE happiest I have ever seen Delaney in a picture. It was taken, probably by Dave, just after Jake was born. We gave her this great I'm the Big Sister t-shirt and she was so excited, she put it right on. She was over flowing with joy that her little brother, whom she had waited so long for, was finally here! It brings tears to my eyes to look at it, when I think of how happy she was.

Her reaction to the photo, while I was creating this page, cracks me up! She looked at it and asked if it was taken when Jake was born. I said yes and that she was so happy. Being 8 1/2 now and having her brother be almost 2, she said, "I love him, but I don't know if I'm that happy about him now....he did cry a lot and...you know, mom, he's Jake." So that makes this picture that much more special to me, what a beautiful innocent smile, so excited that her baby brother is finally here. Unbeknownst to this sweet little girl are all the things about babies that aren't so fun, the SCREAMING (you have to know Jake to know I'm NOT kidding), the wet & poopy diapers, the hitting, throwing & destroying, etc. Of course she is still the happiest big sister in the world, when her little guy says her name, "Dee Dee, Dee Dee" or when he walks up to her, tilts his head, puckers his lips, closes his eyes, and cranes his neck toward her just hoping for a kiss.

Those are all reasons that this photo makes me a very happy mom! I hope you all create layouts showing something that makes you happy!

As far as the layout, I used the Cricut to cut the circles, placing my matted photo inside the largest circle to draw attention to it. I placed the title around the circle, also in an effort to draw attention to the photo. I chose journal strips for this page because a journal box might draw attention away from my photo. Inside the strips is my jounaling, "a girl was never so happy to have a little brother." I think that all the elements of this page help draw attention to Delaney's photo. I think it's important for her to have some pages in her album commemorating her brother's birth that show her reaction. He will have tons of blue pages showing all the exciting happenings after he was born and big sister needs a little attention too!

Tips

Try mixing chipboard styles when creating your titles. The mix will give your layouts a whimsical look.

If you aren't happy with the color of your chipboard, so ahead & paint it. Here I painted chipboard with both paint and glitter glue.

Don't be afraid to add other embellishments to your chipboard. Here I added ribbon, rhinestones & stickers to my chipboard shapes.

Supply List

Basic Grey June Bug collection papers
Admiral: used the back side
Park Bench: used the back side
Picket Fence: used the back side

Prizm light & medium pink textured cardstock

Pink Metallic Ribbon

KaiserCraft Basics: Rhinestones - light & dark pink and Rhinestone strips - pink

Creative Cafe pink chipboard shapes

Circle shapes all cut with the Cricut

"I" - Tim Holtz Grungeboard harlequin alphas

"your" - American Crafts THICKERS hat box plain chipboard

"SMILE" - Die Cuts with a View foil chipchatter uppercase - pink

Mrs. Grossman's casual alphabet stickers

American Crafts Memory Marker pen - soft black

Paint
Scrapbook Shades by Li'l Davis Designs - marshmallow

Ranger Adirondack Brights Acrylic Paint Dabber - raspberry

I need a vacation from my vacation...

After our trip to the Seattle area, the kids & I finally made it home late Saturday night. It didn't take too long into the trip for me to start wondering whether I was the one who was on vacation. Maybe it was Dave...home alone after work watching all the games of the NCAA tournament, quiet house, sleeping however many hours in a row he chose...yes, Dave was the one on vacation! I did learn that traveling with a 14 month old and an 8 year old has its challenges. Like getting them both breakfast at my friend's house, while listening to Jake scream! Like being responsible for packing & unpacking everything, while hoping Delaney & my friend Laura could keep the little guy happy & away from the sorts of dangers a curious boy can find in a new place! I could go on & on...but then it would seem like the vacation wasn't any fun. We definitely had lot's of fun! I'll fill you all in on the details later...I've gotta go get the vacation laundry started.

OH, and there is some NEWS...Jake started walking all over the place during the trip. He LOVED the ferry trips and I think the rocking & vibrations of the boat really helped him keep his balance and have the confidence to toddle all over the boat making lot's of new friends!

Off to the laundry! :)

Wordless Wednesday

One of the MANY pictures from the kids' "photo shoot" at Sears. We had them taken right in between his 1st Birthday and her 8th Birthday. I love this one! He's really excited that sissy is kissing him, even if it doesn't look that way. He gets that look on his face just before he does the Cabbage Patch with his arms....it's his way of showing how excited he is about just about everything! I'll post a slide show of these pictures soon, they're just all so cute I can't seem to whittle them down to a manageable amount!

Happy Wednesday!

Layout of the Week Happy 1st Birthday Our Little Jakey

Wow, I really can't believe he turns ONE today! Such a cute boy. This photo was from last August. This year has really flown by. Now we're watching him, just waiting for him to take off walking. He took one step a couple days ago. He'll stand on his own and take just one step before getting down & crawling where he wants to go. So look out, any day, we'll be chasing him everywhere!

Happy Birthday Sweet Jake! Even though you should't be celebrating until late tonight....considering you were born at 11:37pm! I guess it's ok if you have your cake a little earlier in the day than that!

I'll be sure to take tons of messy cupcake photos, so check back soon!

Layout of the Week Big Sister...Little Brother...

I put this layout together using the Vita Bella collection from Little Yellow Bicycle. I love how well it matches the shirt Delaney was wearing to have her 2nd grade school pictures taken this day. I took the photos of her & Jake after she came home from school that day. Big sister and little brother, I love these pictures. I used 3 12 x 12 sheets to create this look. I cut the foiled page in half and placed each half over half of the other two pages. The green frames were created from the backside of a paper from this collection. I used foiled and fabric stickers with love & family sayings to complete the layout. The fabric stickers are tags and I added American Craft ribbon to each tag. I used an 8 x 8, a 5 x 7 and wallet size photos printed in a lustre finish from Costco for this layout. I was a little crooked in my picture taking, but I think you "get the picture".

Moments like these, frozen in time, are my favorite things to scrapbook. With close to 7 years between my kids, I am very well aware that the baby stage goes by so quickly. I leave my camera out on the table in the nook, so it's right where I can grab it to snap photos of Jake & Delaney every day, if I want. I used to have it on the nesting end table. But Jake tipped the little one over on himself yesterday and he clears off the big one every chance he gets. So I'm down to one end table with nothing on it. Every time I have to tell him, "NO!" and move him back to his toys, I take a deep breath and remember that I will miss this stage in 7 years. It even brings tears to my eyes just to type this. I try to live in the moment and soak up all of his "baby-ness" that I can everyday. Thank goodness he's a good cuddler, because Mommy wouldn't have it any other way!

Merry Christmas!

Portland has finally emerged from "Arctic Blast 2008," as the local news station called it. We're back to having green grass! After two weeks of snow & ice and being stuck in the house with the family, it's nice to know we can jump in the car with out chains and go where we want.

We did manage to venture out a few times in all that snow. During the second weekend, we bundled up & headed to the mall. There was a driving snow storm going on, but the place was packed. An ice storm was expected, so everyone was trying to cram all their Christmas shopping into one day. That made it a great day to see Santa. His line was very short, so we made it quickly to him. Delaney loved visiting Santa and takes special care to write him a nice letter every year. She had a little chat with Santa as he read her letter and even complimented her on her drawing of her & Jake on his lap. She's such a thoughtful girl, she brought Jake's newest doggie to keep him company in case he got scared on Santa's lap. And she brought along her Baby Jessie. Baby Jessie is very special, my parents brought her to Delaney the day she was born. And this past year, our 12 year old Chocolate Lab, Jessie, died, so Delaney wanted to be sure that Santa knew about her.

Jake was in awe of the whole process, from Santa's workshop area to Santa himself. We were very happy to get a picture of both kids without Jake crying. It turned out to be a fun experience. I'm not sure next time will be so much fun though. When Delaney visited Santa for the second time, she was 22 months old. She screamed and cried, only stopping when Dave & I stepped in to be in the picture with her. I felt bad for Santa and was disappointed, until I thought about it for a while. We always want our children to stay away from strange old men, but then we take them to Santa, who looks pretty strange to a baby and then leave them together for a picture, and for some reason we're disappointed when they scream & cry. After that I thought twice about letting someone she might be uncomfortable with hold her. So I'm sure next year's picture with Santa will be a family affair, and that's fine, just this time, I'll dress for the event....instead of being in my sweats like last time!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! Ours was somewhat spread out this year, but it turned out great. It was so much fun to have another baby in the house this year. We loved watching him celebrate his first Christmas...there's nothing like a baby pulling off all the bows & trying to eat them. And it was especially fun to see Delaney help him open his gifts and then show him how to play with each toy. Thanks Santa!

Where has the time gone???

I found myself wondering today...what happened to that little baby who couldn't sit up much less cruise all around the living room ripping everything off my coffee table and throwing it to the floor. Where is that beautiful, spotless cranium?

In less than a week, my house has been destroyed by a small monster with bruises all over his head!

OK, he still is the cutest little boy on Earth! I just need to find a way to slow that Earth down a bit, it's spinning out of control and my baby is disappearing...only to be replaced by a BOY!

Things are changing everyday around here! I just don't know what I'll do when he decides to "explore" the Christmas tree we're getting tomorrow.

But for now, I'm happy he's sleeping! I did finally post my Acrylic Album class on my scrapbook store blog, http://www.whimzeesgirlsonline.blogspot.com , so check it out when you get a chance.

Jake @ Whimzee's

I took this photo of Mr. Jake while I was wearing him in the Baby Bjorn. We had stopped by the store so I could take photos of all the new merchandise for the newsletter I'm designing today. The tables were totally covered with new merchandise and I didn't bring Jake's jumper, so I put him in the front pack & got to work. He loves the carrier and likes to sit both toward me and away from me. It's fun to see his reaction to all the things going on around the store. He loves to watch the ceiling fans, the TV and he loves to "chat" with customers. When I noticed him looking at me and saw the piles of stock in the background, I thought it was the perfect time to document a normal day for us. The little guy is in the store quite a bit, not as much lately as he was, but it will be fun to remember what it was going on in my life when he was this little! So get out your camera and take some photos of "normal" happenings in your life....not just the big events & celebrations.

Basic Grey Ambrosia Pumpkin Patch Layout

After seeing my pumpkin patch pictures, I was really excited to create a layout for them. First, I thought about using some of Reminisce's sparkly Halloween paper. But when I put the pictures on it, I just wasn't inspired. Then I caught a glimpse of our new Basic Grey Ambrosia. I thought the oranges in my pictures just cried out for the variety of oranges showcased in the Ambrosia papers. I printed my photos in 5 x 7 and wallet size at Costco and used 8 different Ambrosia papers on this page. I cut simple rectangles and arranged them around my pictures. Then I used the Cricut at the store to cut the swirl design from one of the papers. And to finish off my page, I used black vinyl Thickers letters.

Now I've got to get to work on the other half of this double-page spread. I'll use the same background paper, Clementine, and I have about 8 more wallets that I plan to put on the page. For my layouts, I like to get everything together and then take some time to mull over all my ideas. This is probably why my projects take a while to materialize, but I enjoy the design process so much, I'm not bothered by it at all. I know that once I finish the layout, it will be something I love. I'll be sure to post the other half as soon as the inspiration for the design comes to me! :)

Not a Blog Virgin Anymore...

I've always been a bit of a writer. I've been thinking of starting a blog for a while now. Between my jobs designing the Whimzee's newsletter and being a mom, I think I've got a lot to say. I love to check out all things new in the scrapbooking world and this will give me a place to share all I find with anyone who's interested. There isn't as much room in the newsletter as I'd like to include cool links to new projects I'd like to start. Of course, being a mom doesn't give me a lot of time for cool projects, but that's beside the point! It's kind of like shopping, it doesn't hurt (cost anything, take any time...) to look! And as far as being a mom, I sure don't run short on funny material in that department. Just try having the youngest baby (6 months) at your 20 year class reunion! And I don't know if anyone else might have accomplished that last feat with a 7 year split between kids! I'm sure there is someone else out there, who hears, "oh...a 6 month old and a 7 year old...and they're you're only two?" So if you're interested in scrapbooking and mom humor, check back....it's always a kick to laugh at other people's misery....it sure makes you feel better!