(it's about) the little things

Fancy Pants Daily Grind - oh my gosh, I thought this line looked cute online, but once I had it in my hands, I realized that the online pics really don't do it justice! Every pattern is just gorgeous.

I did a post on the Allyscraps blog about how I customized some of the embellishments for this page - you can check it out here! You can also find my sketch for this page here.

Journaling:
No tv. No computer. No Leapster.
Just a lake and a cool spring day at Cub Scout camp.
A chance to search for salamanders, frogs, bugs, rocks and anything else that interests you.
Apr 5 2008

a couple of fun cards

Both of these cards are from my Allyscraps design team work.

First is a fun birthday card for Cathy, the fabulous site owner. This was also the last mini-challenge for our October ANTS contest: make a birthday card for for Cathy with a Halloween theme (since her birthday is October 29 and Halloween is her favorite holiday!). I used the GORGEOUS My Minds Eye Nightlight, and I thought the owl from this Pink Paislee Vintage Moon set was perfect! After stamping, I colored with watercolor pencils and then cut it out.



And this one is an anniversary card for my dad and stepmom, featuring the totally fun We R Memory Keepers "Nonsense" line. They recently celebrated 10 years together! I hand-cut the branch and the cute little birds from the patterned paper.

making it real

I love the colors in this Dream Street Cookies 'n Cream from Allyscraps, and the papers are all double sided! I didn't use it for the "cooking" theme, obviously, but it's flexible enough to work for lots of things. This is my long-time online friend, who I finally got to meet in person last month. The journaling gets a little sappy at the end, LOL, but what can I say... I'm a sappy kinda gal!

Journaling:
Some people don’t really understand how you can develop a bond of friendship with someone via an internet forum. Even Mark used to sometimes refer to my “fake internet friends” – mostly just to irk me, I’m sure. Still, II know that he didn’t quite get it, having never been involved in that type of a community.

But when I started to mention “my friend Joodie from Washington” more and more frequently, even he came to accept that you and I had a connection. He knew that we emailed quite regularly, so perhaps he came to see you as a pen-pal of sorts.

And so after “knowing” you, first for a good year or so through various scrapbooking forums, and then more exclusively through our regular emails back and forth for the past two and a half years, there was no question in either of our minds that we should meet in person when you visited your family in northeast Ohio. And what could be more appropriate than a rendezvous at a scrapbooking store? I drove a little over an hour, and you and your mom a good two hours.

How strange it is to meet someone who you already know! But it was just like being with an old friend, and as natural as can be. We shopped and chatted for quite a while, and then enjoyed dinner together at a nearby restaurant. Sadly, just a few short hours after our hello hug, it was time to hug goodbye and head off in our separate ways. It will probably be quite some time before we are face-to-face again, but in the meantime, I will treasure the memories of our afternoon together – our chance, finally, to make it real.

happy halloween sign

Too bad I didn't get this done before Halloween, LOL, but I'll have it for next year! Used Scrapperie's October kit. I cut the house shape using a board book as a template, and then cut scrap chipboard in the same shape to "back" it and make it more sturdy.

the great pumpkin massacre of 2008

I don't usually do pages without journaling, but what is there to say? LOL! The annual pumpkin-carving pictures! I thought the picture of the pile o' pumpkin guts in the foreground with Tyler digging away in the background made a cool focal point.

Everything from Scrapperie's October kit except for the chipboard thickers and the brad. Love that pretty My Little Yellow Bicycle paper, it was just begging me to cut out the swirly-dos!

pumpkin pride

Another from the Scrapperie's October kit, Hocus Pocus! I took the glowy picture just at dusk with a long shutter exposure, and thought it turned out pretty cool. Love the picture of Ryan so proud of his pumpkin (even if I cut the face, LOL!).

the scariest part

I took these pictures and had this layout in mind last year, but just finally got around to scrapping them with the awesome October kit from Scrapperie! It always makes me a little bit sad that Ryan doesn't get to keep a lot of his candy from trick-or-treating or school parties, because of his nut allergy. Luckily for him, though, our friends the Frachioni family traditionally come over to our house for Halloween, and Maggie and her brothers are always generous about swapping the goodies.

Journaling:

When you have a serious nut allergy, there is an added scary twist to Halloween. It’s simply part of our ritual now.

After we get home from trick-or-treating, Daddy or I have to go through all of the loot and pull out anything that contains nuts, may contain nuts, is made on equipment that processes nuts… or that simply isn’t labeled sufficiently for us to be confident that it is safe for you.

You have grown accustomed to it, but it can’t be fun to see as much as half of your hard-earned candy taken away.

Luckily, Maggie is always happy to make swaps with you – your Snickers for her Starbursts, your M&Ms for her Laffy Taffy, and so on. It’s a win-win for everyone.

I am always so proud of how well you accept this, and that you understand we are only doing what we must to keep you safe.

October 31, 2007

I created a sketch for this page for my sketch challenge over at the Scrapperie's Weird & Wacky Wednesday crop this week!