12 on 12 March

My 12 pics on the 12th of the month.

Lunch boxes ready for school.

Was working on PL when I couldn't do anymore without getting out my Silhouette. All I had time for was a quick clean up that somehow turned into re-organzing this drawer. Go figure. Can't tell by this pic but I gained **this** much more elbow room. ;)



After doing her homework, Gianna rushed outside to play on the swinset while enjoying the beautiful weather!

Marissa working on her homework. Still makes me pause to see her do her homework on the computer. Makes me feel old. :(



Monday night CCD classes for the girls.

Quick Target run!!



Would it be weird for me to buy this?? My kids are 10 & 7....(Although Gianna asked me twice why I didn't buy it for her. HA!)



Hard for me to resist, but passed since it wouldn't be easy to drink from while on the treadmill.



My girlies love these!







Chore chart I found on Pinterest.





My sunshine modeling the top I get her from Target.

She'll be eleven soon. Where does time go?? **sigh**



There are my 12 on 12. Hoping to get these 3 months worth of pics scrapped by April 12th!! HA!!

Marissa's 5th Grade State Project: Wyoming

About three weeks ago, Marissa came home with a packet of papers & told me that the fifth-graders were all doing state projects. Her state was Wyoming.

No she did not choose Wyoming, it was assigned. My girl wanted Utah. She studied it last year (I think) & knew somethings about it. I told her it's un-officially the capital of Scrapbooking USA. I got a dirty look.

I started looking over the paper work involved and had an instant headache. The kind only teachers can create.

There were details, specific details that were required for this project. Namely it was a 3D project. Meaning clay was involved. Okay that didn't seem so bad. She had 3 weeks to turn it in.

We had some hectic days around here so we didn't start it right away though we had Marissa look up research on her state.

Eventually the fog around here (in my head) cleared and I was able to go over this packet of requirements. I stopped dead where it said there was a report that had to go along with the project. Marissa didn't mention that....I think she got hung up on the fun clay part, like I did.

Like Mother, like Daughter.
**sigh**

It took awhile for the report to be written. I told Marissa "just write the information and we'll tweak it afterwards", telling her that's how I blog. I just type what's on my mind then work it into something that makes sense...sometimes it just makes sense in my mind but that's besides the point. There were tears, there was frustration, but in the end? There was a four page report.
In between the report process, we had started the clay part since it needed time to dry before painting. We used almost five pounds of clay. We weren't messing around.

We printed a map of Wyoming off the computer, then Marissa drew a rough sketch to get an idea of what we were doing ahead of time. When we both agreed on how to go about things we started the clay with both of us molding the great state of Wyoming. This was our interpretation....

She really stressed over this, wanting everything perfect. This is a behind the scenes look at the madness....

Once we started painting the "map" and adding details it looked a lot better. She had to draw labels of things produced in the state. No clip-art was allowed. :( The worst part? She had to draw these things in teeny tiny 1 inch boxes. That was tough, but she managed.

Here she is with the beautiful state of Wyoming. Still nervous about having it perfect but I think she'll feel better once it's in school.One of the best parts of all this?? Using my scrapbook supplies....she really should have had Utah. LOL!

Birthday Weekend

Today may be my birthday but I've been celebrating since Friday!

I started off Friday treating myself to a mani/pedi, then came home to find some happy mail waiting for me that I ordered.

Since I'm getting old, I couldn't remember what I ordered so I told Joe he could wrap it up & give it to me on my actual birthday. Of course, now I **really** want to open it!!


I stayed up late Friday night & everyone let me sleep late Saturday....except for the florist delivering my birthday flowers first thing in the morning... I love lilies, they make the house smell so good!



Saturday night we went out for dinner to Outback. One of my favorite places to eat. But I made sure to leave room for dessert!

Afterwards we went to my sister's house to have cake. She made me this yummy cake that tasted like a cross between Magic Layer Bars & a Almond Joy. It was so good!



She also made me a Tropical Coffee Cake that was delish!!

My sister's took care of me. I got a sewing machine, a kit full of threads to go with it, & a few other assorted sewing goodies. They've heard me talk about wanting a sewing machine for awhile & now that my studio is in the works I'll have somewhere to put it. I also got some soothing potpourri from my friend Carolee, that I plan on using in my scrap studio.

Joe's been trying to get me to open my gifts since yesterday but I stubbornly refused to since I wouldn't have anything to look forward to on my actual birthday. I know, I know, I'm nuts.

Today has been a good day. After dropping the girls off at school, I took a trip to Target & found a cute owl to add to my collection. Then I treated myself to a coffee & a donut. I really shouldn't have but I'll be hitting the treadmill hard tomorrow!



This afternoon Joe & I met with a kitchen designer to talk about cabinets for my studio. The ball is rolling! I'm now excited even more about my studio!

That's all for now, I'm planning on spending some time catching up on my Project Life album!

Gianna's 2nd Grade Music Show

We celebrated the 1st of March with Gianna's 2nd grade class music show. They've been practicing so hard & the hard work was well worth it.

There was singing.
There was dancing.
There were instruments.

Gianna shook her tambourine like nobody's business. Ha! ;)

There were smiles.
And lots of applause.

Along with some cheese......


She did great! She's got flair & that little extra something that makes you smile more. I love everything about her & I wouldn't change her a bit!

Great job G!!

February 366

My month in pictures. This app is great for jotting down what my pics are about. Helps me remember it all. I've been using it to help me catch up with my PL album--thank goodness I kept up with it!

Project Life 2012

I wasn't going to do it.

I fought it. I really did. Sorta anyway.

I'm talking Project Life.

I did it the first year when it was out & managed to complete the album....in my own time, and swore I wasn't doing it again. No offense, but I lost the passion about the album towards the end. When the second edition kits came out there was a lot of hype & you know what I did?

I bought TWO kits.

Yeah, go ahead laugh.

When the kits came in I took one out of the box & put it together.....then decided I wasn't doing it. Still laughing?

This year the hype seemed even more intense. I resisted. I mean, why would I spend more money on something I already had?

Besides, I've been using the Photo 365 app on my phone & took a pic a day that way. I figured I'd make them into a mini-album of sorts at the end of the year.

While on Pinterest, I started seeing TONS of Project Life LO's. So many in fact, that I blocked a few boards dedicated to just PL. That's right, I wasn't giving in........but I was. I saw so many beautiful pages that just inspired me. I didn't have to use it the way it was intended. I didn't have to use 4x6 pics alone. I could do whatever worked for me.

So I went to bed thinking of the possibilities of what I could do. I mean, I already had the pics (mostly from my phone), so why not?

Then I broke down & printed the pics for January. Most of the pics were edited in both Camera+ & Instagram so they printed on the small side but it was good because as great as the pics look on your phone, once printed they're just ok.

I made up a simple cover page (both sides), using my Silhouette Cameo (that I LOVE!)



This is the back that I stressed over but love the results.

As of tonight, I am done putting together my pages for January. I found that since most of my pics are from my iphone I could squeeze one week's worth of pics in 1 page protector instead of a double sided LO. I'll have pics to share soon, I just need to finish my title page.

Anyone else playing along with PL??

Two Years in the Making....

Back in January 2010, Joe & I made a decision to convert our guest room into my scrap room. However, we had a bedroom set that needed a home. We put the word out that we were getting rid of it, but no takers.

Our guest room used to be the master bedroom until we remodeled the house & changed things around. We don't have a lot of sleep over guests except for my sister when she babysits & doesn't feel like driving home if we stay out late. ;) For the most part our guest room was used as storage. Things that needed a home would sit in the room until we got around to it. I used the room to pack suitcases.

Basically it wasn't being put to good use.

Here's a view of the room entering from the girls' hallway. (excuse the mess) The room has those 3 windows facing our street, with beautiful light during the day.The doorway on the other side leads thru to our master bathroom & closet that leads to our master bedroom now.This is the view coming from the other direction.
It's a great room, with big furniture. Not easy to find a new home for. So, I pretty much gave up & moved on. I bought a bunch of the scrap cubes from Michael's & Joe got me a small IKEA Expedit & we made things work. I've been pretty happy with it since my stuff was now more accessible & organized.

Now once again I seem to be maxed on space. **sigh** Can't win.

Back in January, my mom was over & I mentioned wanting to get rid of the furniture. She jumped on it & said she wanted it. My sister measured my mom's room & said it would be a little tight but it would fit in her room.

So we made plans.

It took awhile to get everything moving but this weekend the furniture was moved.

The room is empty.

I can hardly believe it, but we can now get the ball rolling on my scrap room!!

Right now we are making plans on what I want where. How I work. Basically what I want from the room before we start, so Joe can make plans. He's been picking my brains & adding some great ideas.

First up we need to get some lights installed. Then paint & new carpet (the room has the original carpet from when we moved in 12 years ago!) So basically, nothing's happening overnight BUT the dream is finally becoming a reality!

I will happily accept this as my early birthday present! Yeah, ok so my birthday isn't until the 5th (hint hint hint) & I know it won't be done in time for my birthday BUT regardless, I am one happy girl!!

Scrap Cards 2.0

After making THESE LO's I had a lot of pieces left over that I hated to toss out. Since I can never have enough birthday cards I decided to give these a try. I actually like how they came out too!

The longest part to making these was the heat embossing but even that didn't take long at all.I had scraps of these colors the most so kept this to just those colors. Thought it was more "manly"....







This is probably my least favorite card from the bunch, but I still like it. And it reminds me of corn. Totally random thought there....

I've got some exciting news that I can't wait to share! I don't want to jinx it so I'm waiting....but if it happens I'll be able to share tomorrow! It's something sorta scrappy related that I've been wanting for a long, long time! ;) Wish me luck!!!

Pumpkins -Bella Blvd Finally Fall Project Sheets

These LO's were probably the EASIEST LO's ever to come from my desk! Reason being is the Step-by-step Project sheets from Bella Blvd. THIS LO was created by Laura Vegas & she gives the exact dimensions of papers to use for these LO's. Easier than a sketch! This was the perfect way to get my dormant mojo moving!

I printed out 3 years worth of pumpkin picking pictures for both girls & created a LO for each of them for that year. That's right 6 LO's are all done & ready for the albums! They literally took no time to create. I basically kept everything the same as Laura's original but switched out some papers here & there. I also added my journaling in a circle along the side, taking the journaling from my blog. I don't usually handwrite my journaling on my LO's but I think it worked.

Sorry about the crappy pics. I was going to re-take these pictures but if I waited that long I might never post these!

2009
Used paper strips for the borders on these 2 LO's.
2010
Added some ribbon from my stash for the border on this one.
2011


Seriously enjoyed how effortlessly these came together! I have 2 more project sheets that I've been playing with & will share those soon.

Scrap Cards

Scraps.
Not patterned paper scraps.
I'm talking cardstock.

No matter how often I use them I seem to aquire more & more & MoRe!! This time the pile was crazy! I try to keep nothing smaller than 3x3 (usually). I figure if I can get a punch out of it it's a keeper, which is probably part of my problem....

I keep all my scraps in an accordian file & sort them by color. Easy peasy. Nothing fancy.

I've noticed pennants or flags a lot lately. Whether it's on Pinterest or a scrappy magazine, pennants are everywhere! So I'm not entirely sure where I got this idea but the best part of it was using so much of my cardstock scraps.

I took out my white embossing powder, & a stamp & got to work. I used "Happy Birthday" since that's usually the sort of card I need. Depending on the size of the paper I'd stamp it as many times as I could fit Happy Birthday & still leave room to trim them at the ends. Then arrange them on a card & it's DONE! Super simple.


Since Joe's birthday was last weekend, I told the girls to pick a card to give to him & out of a stack of cards they both chose these cards. Since then, I've been mass producing these cards to have on hand....AND use up my scraps!! ;)