Off to another crop!

Yes the semi-annual Scrapbook USA Expo is here! I've been trying to get packed all day so I could be ready for my friend Shauna and her sister early tomorrow morning. I have to tell you it's been forever since I've had friends that live close and even nicer that they share my passion for scrapping.
My day was so full today I didn't think I would ever get to the packing though. I got to go visit a friend today, come home, eat lunch, and clean the family room. Then I had friends over to my house. We talked and chatted about everything while all the little boys played in Jesse's room. I finished taking pictures and filling out my application for the design team at A Million Memories. By then kids were home and I had to be the big meanie... get a snack, do your homework, do your chores, practice your viola/bass. I'm grateful for an understanding husband who can hear the distressed sound of my voice on his cell and offers to pick up stuff for dinner because I somehow didn't have time to get to the store.
I got to sit down for a bit after that and watch my Thursday shows after dinner... Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy. Gotta love TiVo! you can rewind and pause, not to mention fast forward through all those commercials!
Now my packing is all done, only three bags! that's an accomplishment for me! Usually I'm hauling at least five with me now. that's the one downside to cropping away from home... can't take it all with you!

Well it's nearly one and I have to get up and make sure all the kids look their best, it's picture day tomorrow! and then off to scrap! Whoo hooo!!! I'll let you all know how it goes. :)

Going Digital??

The idea of going completely digital was never something I thought I would do, but after finally figuring out how to use my Photoshop Elements better I can see why so many people have done just that. It takes up loads less space, you just click you mouse and it's all cleaned up, you can do it anywhere since it's on your computer, and there are soooooo many freebies that you can download, that you could do literally do hundreds of pages without buying a thing.

See, I've had this digi kit by Jessica Sprague for a very long time and could not figure out how to use it. I tried many sites to find some kind of walkthrough when at last I found one! Super simple to get going once I knew which icon to click on.

See here's my first ever go at it! Looking pretty good! I'm sure you are all wondering who these people are... well it's Alison and Michele, owners of A Million Memories! They have been hosting one of the crops I told you about. One of the challenges, done by one of the Design Team members, was to create a page for them to wish them a happy 1st anniversary.

I had so much fun that I did another one! Now I know you all know this girl! On this one I used a kit from the veggie site by Rhonna Farrer and those big flowers are from designerdigitals.com by Lynn Grieveson.

I think that I'll always stick with paper Layouts. Creating something with my hands over creating it with my mouse is much more appealing to me. But don't be too surprised if you see more of these.

Poor thing...

Before I could get any of my scrapping done this weekend though, I got to visit the ER. My friend Kasi's not to only one who gets to have fun the hospital.

I don't know what it is about Kylie that makes her so accident prone. None of my other kids have had to go to the hospital for large wounds that need stitching. I have to say this ones pretty minor compared to her tripping and biting her tongue nearly off.

Kylie was just outside playing with her friends, riding on one of the neighbor's scooters. I'm thinking she must have hit a little rock and the Razor scooters wheel just didn't like it. Down she went! She got a few bumps and scrapes, but the biggie was her chin! She split it right open, not to the bone thank goodness. I tried not to look at it too much, but we could tell it need stitches. So I took her to the hospital. it's really nice that it wasn't crowded in there because we got seen right away and put in a room. Well not really a room, you can't call a big open air space with curtains a room.

The nurse was really nice and understanding about Kylie being nervous about the shots in her chin. She gave Ky a stuffed doll to hold. It came in very handy during the shots and stitches when I was hunched over with my head between my knees trying not to pass out! I am such a wimp!

The doctor told us to keep sunscreen on it for the next year to help with scarring and that eventually most of the scar will move under her chin as she grows. Lets hope the next visit won't be for SEVERAL years!

Been Busy Scrappin'

As you can see I've been a busy worker here. And yes I have been keeping up on the house too! Well.... laundry counts right?

Two of my favorite sites have been throwing crops so I thought double duty would be great! Most of my layouts fit into challenges in both groups.

We've got Kylie playing in the muddy run-off at the park. Emily in dance in 2001, she's in the center on the top row. Kylie at her school's dance festival.Emily's first day of school this year. And Ally's first day of Kindergarten.

Getting so many pages done this weekend makes me feel really good. Like I've put a dent in my overwhelming pile of pictures even though it's only a small one. Scrapping for me is not only a hobby, but a way to relieve stress and do something I love just for me.

It's so nice to Getaway!

Let me just say I'm still recuperating from my Scrapbook weekender with Jenn and Kasi. I used to be able to stay up into the wee hours of the morning and still get up early for school with no side affects. Now two days later I'm still tired and want a nap! Not that it wasn't worth it!!

I planned and packed my bags most of the day Thursday to get ready to go early Friday morning. I didn't sleep well at all! I guess it's my equivalent to Christmas eve for kids. I was excited, I couldn't stop thinking about all the fun we'd have, and I REALLY wanted to scrap without my kids interruptions.

I got there just before Jenn did, which was a first! I got all my gear into Kasi's... that too a few trips. I can't ever seem to pack light for these things. My scrap stuff took up the entire floor in the trunk of my minivan! Just as we're ready to go we get called to help out a neighbor. Her battery died and she needs a jump. Yes even us girls can be resourceful when we want to be. Now finally on to the fun stuff... SHOPPING!! that's basically all we did Friday. We got home so late we just ended up going to bed with the promise of scrapping the next day. And we did scrap but before we could we squeezed in a few more stores.

It was great when we finally got to sit down a play with all our new treasures. I even got to call my BFF Katie and put her on speakerphone for a while so she could join the fun. Twelve whole hours of scrapping! It was great!! I got a few Lo's done, laughed and played with my friends. couldn't ask for a better time!

They got me!!!

I've been tagged! How cool is that!?! So here I am having a blast sharing my Top 5 (since I can't have it all) of my new/up and coming scrappy gotta haves.

1. Fancy Pants 12x12 stamps
2. All the new primas
3. Creative Imaginations Peek A Boo Book
4. Tim Holtz Grunge Board
5. Queen and Co. Felt Fusion

And that's it! Now you know my wish list. And for those of you reading this... Tag your it!! Save the pic. and share your Top 5 list!

Labor Day Weekend

I wish we had been like half of our ward and went camping somewhere over the weekend but we just never got going on that idea. The kids did get to go to Grandma and Grandpa Dison's on Monday but that about the extent of our excitement. I did however get to scrap again! Whooo hooo!!! I'm just amazed by the sketches by Becky Fleck . She makes it so easy for the scrapper who doesn't want to take a lot of time and fiddle with every piece on her page, which I tend to do if I don't already have an idea. Over the weekend I did two of her sketches.

The first one is for a Circle Journal I'm doing with a group of friends. The topic of this journal is Words of Wisdom. I chose to use Gordon B. Hinkley's Be Attitudes. They sum up all the wisdom I wish to impart to my children. Be Grateful. Be Smart. Be Clean. Be True. Be Humble. Be Prayerful. THese are the best words of wisdom I've ever heard.

The second is pretty straight forward. Emily's third grade school picture. I couldn't remember anything special about that year. Being it was six years ago might be part of it. So the place where there's supposed to be journaling I put a ton of small prima's and buttons. What I like, besides it being a LO of Emily, is that it all came from a monthly kit I purchased some time ago. accept for a few little things the rest of it came all together. Makes it so I don't have to rummage through all my stuff to make a pretty and coordinated page.

So I got to scrap and the kids had a good time at Grandma and Gandpa's.... Not to shabby of a weekend, huh?