it's time to share my MMM 2008 entry

Well, the deadline for the Memory Makers Masters 2009 contest has come and gone, and I did not get an entry sent in this year. I had intended to, but life just got in the way. And I'm ok with that - maybe I'll start earlier, next year.

I have never posted my pages from the MMM 2008 contest, keeping them under wraps just in case I got one picked up for publication. Not looking likely at this point, LOL, so I figured it was time to share them! I look at these now and can really see how my scrapbooking style has grown and evolved over the past year; yet, these are still some of my favorite pages. I put a lot into them.

And so, without further ado....

your gentle spirit

This was one of my first tries at using a hybrid technique - adding part of the titled directly to the focal point photo. I was never completely happy with the overall page design of this one, but the pictures of Tyler "babying" his little stuffed Tigger are so cute and I really liked the simplicity in the journaling.

Journaling:“What ‘cha doing with Tigger, honey?”
“Dis isn’t Tigger, dis is a baby.”
“Oh, is that your baby?”
“Yeah. He’s tirwed. I’m wapping him in his blanket.”
“What are you doing with the bowling pin?”
“Dat’s not a bowling pin, dat’s his bottle.”
“Oh, I see. Are you feeding him his bottle?”
“Yeah. Den he’s gonna take his nap. Cute little baby.”

Tyler 2.26.07

the rollover

I figured it would be good to include an "about me" page, and since I had recently celebrated my 40th birthday, it seemed like a good topic choice. The journaling is hidden under the flap.

Journaling:
The Rollover. It was inevitable, I suppose. (Or at least, better than the alternative.) Am I supposed to feel different? I am no longer a thirty-something. When I fill out those forms that include a checkbox for “age range”, I’ll probably be bumped into the next highest category. I saw my first couple of gray hairs this past year. Well, at first it was just a couple, and then they seemed to bring friends to play. The “laugh lines” on my face are not all that funny to me.

But then I look at where I really am right now, and know that this is truly the best time of my life. I have two wonderful sons who are growing up much too quickly but make me so proud to be called “Mommy”. I have a husband who loves me and our children and God. I have been blessed with the opportunity to do something I love – teach. I get to scrap, my #1 love outside of my family and my faith.

So I refuse to get down about my age, and instead will delight in each day and cherish every precious moment that God has given me. The forties are not looking so bad, after all.


this is steel city

I took these great pictures of Pittsburgh when we went out to a family dinner on Mount Washington, and them merged them together to form the panoramic photo. I incorporated metallic-themed embellishments.

Journaling:
Pittsburgh. Steel City. Da Burgh. No matter how you say it, it means this town, this unique place that has a character and charm, a city with a personality unlike anyplace else.

So here I am, having been born and raised in Ohio. A buckeye by birth, transplanted here fourteen years ago and now with firmly planted roots. My husband is a native Pittsburgher. My children are native Pittsburghers. And I appear to be here to stay.

You won’t hear me talking about going “dahntahn”. I will say “you” instead of “yinz”. And someone slap me if I start ending my sentences with “an’at”. Still, the city has rubbed off on me, and even though I have my share of complaints, I have to admit that – all in all – it’s a pretty great place to live. And now, this is my city. This is my home.

(In bookplate at lower left: Mt. Washingon Overlook 9-9-06)


built-in best friend

This is one of my all-time favorite pages. I love the simpliciy of the design, love how the circular journaling block with the quote turned out, and the picture is positively perfect - a happy accident when I was taking some test shots with a new camera lens.

Journaling:
OK. So it isn’t always like this. The two of you have your share of brotherly bickering. But then, when you don’t know I’m there, I overhear… “I love you Ryan.” “I love you too, Tyler.” These are the moments I cherish. You are both so blessed to have each other.

Quote on circle embellishment reads: Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero. Marc Brown

a mom of 2 boys


And here it is, the original layout for the assigned theme, "I wish". For those of you who may not know how the MMM contest works, you have to send in color photocopies of four pages, and one original page based on the assigned "theme". That original page will never be returned, unless the magazine decides to publish it. This was my original page, so I will never have this back. It is always sad to send off a page that you have put so much heart and soul into, knowing that you may never see it again, but I try to just look at it as the "entry fee".

I really wanted the pictures to reflect the day-to-day life of being a mom to two young boys. I think this is the only pages I've ever done where the picture of my subjects intentionally doesn't include their heads, LOL! I figured that would be looked at as either very avant-garde, or really stupid! But, showing their dirty and somewhat skinned-up knees conveyed exactly what I was going for.

Journaling:
I used to wish that someday I would have a daughter. That was before God blessed us with our two boys.

I don’t shop for pink frilly dresses, or barrettes and hair bows, or dolls and dollhouses. I spend summer evenings at little league games instead of dance recitals. I can’t tell you the difference between a Pinkie Pie My Little Pony and a Strawberry Shortcake Honey Pie Pony.

But, I do know the difference between Imaginext’s Whip The Parasaurolophus and Ripper the Spinosaurus. I can tell you that Thomas the Tank Engine is blue, Percy is green and James is red. I’ve become an expert in patching up skinned and bruised knees, building elaborate train tracks and, naturally, all imaginable jokes related to bodily functions and gaseous emissions.

I no longer long for that daughter that I was once so sure I would someday have. Instead, I treasure the time I have wrestling and chasing and climbing and digging and catching worms and ants and spiders (yes, even spiders). Little did I know when my childhood fantasies went unfulfilled, that I would find unexpected fulfillment where I had never thought to look. For now, I have found that I am completely happy, completely satisfied, completely… complete, simply being a mom of 2 boys.