making the grade

I love Scrap Within Reach's Elliot line! The alphabet soup pattern, with the numbers along the bottom, were perfect for this page. I also mixed in the notebook paper pattern from We R Memory Keepers Grandma's Kitchen collection, to fit the theme of the page, and used a journaling stamp to put the lines on some of the title letters to match the "lined paper" look. Check out the Allyscraps forum for the current scrappy challenge and a chance to win a $10 gift certificate!

Journaling:
At first I wasn’t really paying attention to what the boys were doing, until I happened to hear Ryan say “ok Tyler, here you go – take this math quiz I wrote for you.” After Tyler was finished, Ryan set about the task of grading it. First he located his “grading pen” – a green pen, just like the one that I use to grade my students’ work! I guess the apple doesn’t fall very far from the tree. He then carefully reviewed the problems, explaining the ones that were wrong and praising Tyler for the ones that were correct. You must have teaching in your blood, sweetheart. You are a natural!

friends & fun at the pumpkin patch

The rich colors of We R Memory Keepers Grandma's Kitchen were just perfect for these pictures from last fall of Tyler's class trip to the pumpkin patch! The sketch for this page is the current Sketch Challenge - check it out for a chance to win a $10 gift certificate at Allyscraps!

Journaling:
It’s a highlight of the fall – the school trip to the pumpkin patch at Kerber’s Dairy farm. The whole kindergarten and preschool class has a blast! First a tractor-driven hay ride winds through the farm and takes you out to the pumpkin field, where you get to pick a pumpkin. Then it’s back in the wagon to return to the dairy, where everyone enjoys an ice cream cone. Kerber’s has the very yummiest ice cream! I was not able to chaperone the trip this time, but Daddy was lucky enough to go along and enjoy the fun.

indisputable proof

I thought the fun, summery, water-themed patterns of Fancy Pants Summer Soiree were perfect for this picture of Ryan and I, just after getting drenched in a water ride last summer at a local amusement park! My sketch for this page can be found in the Allyscraps Gallery.

Journaling:
Kennywood – love it. Getting soaked right down to my socks and having to walk around the amusement park that way for the rest of the evening – not so crazy about it. But when you asked to ride the Pittsburg Plunge, I couldn’t say no. You never used to be so bold when it came to riding some of the bigger rides, but in the last couple of years you’ve become much more willing to try new adventures. So I wasn’t about to say no. You loved it, and it was worth having soggy hair and being sopping wet for the next couple of hours to see how thrilled you were by the ride, and how proud you were that you rode it.

your very own prehistoric park

This was my page for the Allyscraps April DT reveal, using the bonus 2-pager sketch! I used the Studio 8 Dinosaur Land line. I mixed & matched and painted some different raw chipboard alphas I had for the title work.


Journaling:
You are definitely two dinosaur-loving boys! Both of you were able to identify the various dinosaur species (and pronounce their names!) by around 4 years old. One day, after being secluded together in Ryan’s room for quite some time, you came to me with great excitement and said “Mom, come look what we did on the train table!!” You had carefully arranged various books as “partitions”, and created a prehistoric paradise for several of your dinosaurs – complete with a schematic drawing of what animals are located in each exhibit! I love seeing you engage in this kind of creative play – no electronics required!
June 30, 2008

I was the featured Bella Blvd. Guest Artista this week!

I was so honored to have been asked by Bella Blvd. to be a Guest Bella Artista! Their product lines are so bright and fun and I had a great time working with them! I was featured on their blog this past week. Here are the pages that I created with their goodies!

My Adorable Boy

I added the “Party Hearty” paper from Sweet Celebration – the perfect complement to Swing into Spring for these sweet pictures of my little guy! I hand-cut the folksy hearts, to match the ones on the paper, from the "Candy Buttons "paper. I varied the font color on certain words in the journaling to match the colors on the page.



Hunting Easter Eggs

My "Designer's Challenge" was to use small photos. I knew that I wanted to include several pictures from our Easter egg hunt last year on this page, so it was a perfect topic for this challenge and the Swing Into Spring product line. I used a variety of photo sizes, with the focal point photo a bit larger and the other pictures each 2.5” or 3” high. I really liked the color and the pretty pattern on “April Showers”, but since my page doesn’t have anything to do with rain, I turned the paper upside down (I think it sort of looks like balloons!). I also used a circle punch to punch circles from Candy Buttons for the scalloped border at the bottom.



Bright Lights in the Big City

My oldest son and I recently went with friends to see the musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in downtown Pittsburgh, and the colors in Pack Your Bags were perfect to go with the photos. Even the ticket stubs matched!

mommy I love you infinity

Tyler said this to me one day out of the blue... I immediately wrote it down and knew it would become a page! Loved the My Mind's Eye Bloom & Grow collection for my sweet guy. I cut the infinity symbol from scrap chipboard with my Pazzles, and painted it and the chipboard letters and word.

Journaling:
Tyler to mommy, straight from the heart. I love you infinity too, my baby. ♥ mommy
2-27-09