Forever

This LO started out differently. I had wanted to attempt this LO of Laura's. I sat at my desk & messed around with Photoshop.

Let me just say Photoshop & I don't mix well. I am not the most computer-savvy person around at all, but I figure I'm not a stupid person & I can follow directions so I try. Well, I must have the version of Photoshop that's of no use to scrappers because usually the tutorials I see are for a different version than what I have (Adobe Photoshop). To find what is being described is not as easy as it seems. Sorry on a rant there.....

Anywhoo, for my attempt I decided to play with my wedding pics since I don't have too many scanned onto my computer so I wouldn't have to go crazy choosing which pics to use.

Still with me??

Ok, well long story short, I managed to follow the directions but once I printed my pics (of which I only had 12 instead of the 16--like I said I need to scan more in) it didn't look right.

Instead of throwing out the pics, I decided to cut the pics apart & make it work. I was also excited to do this since I've never done a 12x12 LO of my wedding before. The LO's of my wedding that I do have are all 6x6 that I did as a series of mini-albums of just Joe & I. You can see them here.

detail bling shot...Been playing around with more pics. Hoping to scrap more tomorrow since it's National Scrapbook Day. ;) Today I told that to Marissa & she refused to believe me until I pulled up a blog showing I wasn't lying to her. My girl has been raised around so much sarcasm that she refuses to believe me when I'm not being sarcastic! LOL!!

Art Show 2010

Tonight was the Art show at the girls' school. All the families get to walk around the school & see all the pretty art projects the kids have done during the year. They try to display the kids artwork in the same area as their classrooms to make it easier to find.

Then you walk around & "oooooh & aaaaaahhh".

First up we went by Marissa's classroom. She proudly pointed out her work. Mariss'a seahorse was very happy & bright....

Her bird/owl....she calls him "Hedwig"..... (between her & I we now have a "thing" for owls!)

Some of the kids have their artwork in the all purpose room & can take it home with them. The Kindergarteners make "frisbees" every year. Gianna showed us the bottom of hers...she was too quick with the other side.....

Marissa's class was working on drums (made out of an empty canister) but they didn't finish in time. Will have to take pics when she brings it home. Since the younger kids create less time consuming artwork they had more displayed.

Gianna & her fish... Gianna's extremely-extra-legged spider....

G's owl was awesome!! I was surprised how well she drew it!

Her caterpillar....for a kid that does NOT like bugs she draws them a lot! ;)

During the show if you had time, the kids had the chance to sit with supplies & make a craft. The teacher had an example of a peace sign for the kids to go with. Marissa is all about the peace sign this year.....she was really into it! She took her time & color coordinated it with the feathers.

The girls love showing off their work. It's a fun night where we can enjoy being with them in their element. So proud of how artistic they are! Must take after someone I know! ;)

Birthday Cards

To get my mojo going I tried making a few cards from scraps I had lying around my desk. Literally scraps of papers that I hated to throw out but wasn't enough to make into a LO. Love being able to use up all the pretty papers without tossing them!

Then once I started I had a hard time stopping, though I kept to the same theme & design--HA!! I tried changing things up a bit but not by much.

This card I had stamped first & when it came out slanted I did the same with the papers-happy accident!


This stamped crooked too but I had everything all stuck on & stamped last so I'm hoping whoever gets this cards doesn't notice! ;)

Used the Martha Stewart Monarch butterfly punch & colored it in with stickles....looked better in my mind but I'm not un-happy with it either. KWIM?

I left this card blank but more than likely it'll be birthday since that's what I tend to need most. You can't see it too well but the card was embossed with my favorite Swiss Dots folder.

This card was made in record time & already sent out, to my friend Carla's birthday today. Luckily I mailed it out in time & she got it today! Perfect timing--amazing!!

Once I had these made I couldn't stop! I was on a roll & have more to share soon! They even put me in the mood to make a LO! YAY!! Not that I actually MADE a LO...I'm just in the mood to make one! LOL!! But I have some ideas rolling around that I want to put on paper so it'll happen soon!

Organization: School Papers

In my attempt to do some Spring Cleaning I tackled this pile of papers the girls bring home from school on a daily basis. I don't keep every piece of school work they bring home but I do keep a good amount...sadly this pile goes back to January!! I'm a little behind in filing their papers!!

Sometimes the girls need a paper from the pile & I have to dig through it all before finding the one piece they need. Frusterating to say the least. Nevermind trying not to topple over the huge mess! So I came up with this solution...

I took these baskets & made a quick tag to distinguish whose basket is whose (M-Marissa, G-Gianna & A-Assorted).

I went through the pile & sorted everything turning the papers face down to keep the current stuff on top. When I was done the piles were more manageble & ready to file away! Not that I filed them away yet but I'm getting there! ;)

3rd Grade Music Show

Tonight we went to see Marissa in her 3rd grade music show. She's been looking forward to it for awhile. I've heard bits of the songs & heard rumors about some dancing....

Turns out each kid had to pull up someone from the audience at various times to interact in the show. Luckily she told me in advance that she'd be bringing me up each time so I was prepared. The 1st time up we played the xylophones together. She did really good....me? Not so much....I kept missing my parts! heeee-heeee!!


Later on during another part of the show she pulled me up to dance. It was sort of a country line of a dance & Joe videoed it, but I can't seem to upload it (thankfully!!)

She was so happy performing. It amazes me that IRL she's shy around people but get her onstage & she's fine. Go figure. I'm proud of her no matter what. I had fun getting up there with her!

Of course Joe was proud of her too. She's his big girl & "mini-me". These 2 have been BFF's since Kindergarten. Ariel is such a good friend to Marissa--love her!

Miss Gianna was all about Joe tonight. She loved having him all to herself while Marissa was with her friends. She entertained herself by jumping off the risers into Joe's arms.

Then of course the olders girls were brave. They jumped into adventure, hand in hand.

Have you seen my mojo??

It's been nowhere to be found. I did try kick starting it by making some cards but haven't had time to take pics of them yet.

Been in such a "blah" mood lately too. Somedays I wonder why I bother with some things....and yeah there are days when I question scrapping. But I'm not giving up....just the other night I had a few minutes to play with photoshop...trying to figure out collages, and while I'm not thrilled with how it turned out I figure I can still turn those pics into a LO. I made some notes & planned something out....just haven't had time yet.

Another thing on my mind is spring cleaning. I have some areas that need attention but can't be done on a school day so they get postponed & it drives me crazy not to get it started....since one project turns into another which leads into another...

With that I'm going to grab some time before dinner & see what gets done! Wish me luck!!

What's the Password??

My girls are really into playing games online like....

Webkinz
Poptropica
Barbie
Disney Fairies
Club Penguin

You know what they need?

Passwords.

And they expect ME to keep track of them all! I'm sure all Mom's feel the same way.

So a few days before leaving for Disney I was browsing 2Peas & noticed the March Mini-Album class was up. It caught my eye right away since I'm a sucker for mini-albums but then I saw the link for THIS album & grabbed some supplies right away.

I had an address book I had bought awhile back at the dollar store, thinking it could eventually be a mini album of sorts. Then I cut some OLD SEI papers I had into roughly 5 x 5 1/2 size (used the address book pages as a guide). Using my ruler I drew some lines for all the sites & passwords---kept this VERY simple knowing it will be handled by the girls.

For the cover I used Nichol's method of making it pretty. I spelled out my title with chipboard letters & painted it pink to match the papers. After it dried I coated it with some pink glitter glaze then sealed it with Mod Podge.

To finish it off I tied some ribbon to the spine & added some charms I bought awhile ago.

Except for the drying time this came together very fast. A quick project done while the girls were doing their homework.

We're Back!!!

We've been back all week but I'm sure you can imagine what I've been busy with...LAUNDRY!!

We had a great time. Beautiful weather (the best we've ever had on a trip). I came home with under 1000 pics this time--shocking I know!! It was a very relaxing trip, despite being so tired at night!

I had great intentions of blogging each day while we were in Disney but most days I was too tired to blog--shocking I know!!

Then once we were home I thought I could go back & blog about the trip, but it seemed like a chore, one that I've done already after each trip so I put it off. Not too much has changed since our last trip. Then I thought I could just post some pics, but I did that on Facebook & didn't feel like doing it again here.

Then tonight I had an epiphany....I HAVE blogged about Disney! I tweeted about it! Not everyday & some days more than others but I'm content with that. I can take the stress out of repeating myself & just put it to bed.

But here's a pic anyway since the post looks too bare without one..... ;)

Easter through the Years

This post is pretty self-explanatory....

Except this. This was Marissa's 1st Easter. At the time I was busy & didn't get very many pics (which I regret heavily). My Father-In-Law thought it was hysterical to give his granddaughter an empty bottle of beer to suck on. Yeah I was NOT happy. Don't ask me why I took the pic like this either--don't remember.

2002

Marissa & my neice Nicolette...their 2nd Easter. 2003

Marissa & Nikki's Third Easter & Tyler's 1st. I was pregnant with Gianna this year.

2004


Gianna's 1st Easter, Marissa's 4th.

2005


The girls dressed all "matchy-matchy". Gianna was heavily addicted to her Nuk.

Marissa's 5th Easter & Gianna's 2nd.

2006


Marissa's 6th Easter & Gianna's 3rd.

2007

Marissa's 7th Easter, Gianna's 4th.

2008

This was our 1st year away for a Holiday. It was nice not having to cook & go crazy but I did miss all the fun Easter stuff we do with all the kids.

Marissa's 8th Easter, Gianna's 5th.

2009

Wishing everyone a

HAPPY EASTER!!