finally am finishing some loose ends

So, I have been working on our vacation album to California since this past fall. You can see it HERE. So much to do for it...picking out pictures, making collages, making layouts...a LOT of time being put into this. I am so very close to finishing it up totally. This weekend I decided to get the title page and journaling page done. I thought I would be done after that but there is a layout in the album that has nothing behind it...kinda like a patient gown that's opened in the back...needs to be covered. Anyhow I had the little index pictures left over and I thought they would be perfect to cut into strips and glue to the title page. Well the problem is that some of them are horizontal and some are vertical so I cut them all out individually (took forever). Then I traced a circle on my white background paper and glued the pics inside, then ran them through my cuttlebug with a quickutz die (while crossing my fingers). I cut the circles up just so I could spread them throughout the page. I really didn't plan the whole thing, I just started and it resulted in this. And the "p" in "trip"...an "o" and an "l" put together...then I needed an "o" so I used a zero. I had purchased 2 packages of these American Crafts letters and I wasn't going to go out and buy a third. And I used up every piece of paper and scrap I bought for this project!!!

There is also a second page but its literally almost all journaling with two pictures on it and a bit of patterned paper on the sides. Nothing too crazy. Thanks for looking.

Just a few sledding photos

So we've been stuck in the house due to the super low temps this whole winter. But it was 35ish this weekend so we got outta da house! Anyway, just a few sledding pics here. The hill was so slick and supa dupa fast. I had to put my heels down all the way to slow down. LOL! But this handsome dude did take a nice long nap...

I was standing about halfway up the hill on this one for the pic below...

...with Daddy

like the change?

So I was reading heidi swapp's blog today and she was announcing a new project called, "House of 3". Her, Rhonna Ferrer, and Janet Hopkins started this new company...they have digital brushes, digital print out, blog banners and backgrounds. The whole change cost me 3 bucks! What a deal. Love it.

Week 5: Project 365/cards

I updated all my 365 posts to the date instead of "day 1", etc. Its easier to keep track. One thing I'm also going to do is keep track of what the kids say and write it down also to put in the 365 journal.

Sun, Jan 25: Reading the 2nd book in the Twilight series (which I finished today). I used to be such a bookworm and then I kinda stopped about 6 years ago...I wonder why? LOL! Seriously never had the time after I became a mom...plus scrapbooking kinda took over my free time.

Mon, Jan 26: I was playing ball down the basement stairs with Aydan after work. He was sitting on the landing and I was at the bottom. We were having so much fun. I grabbed out the camera and the crying began. But Kendall continued on with his role, so I got a picture of her. Notice her Dora earmuffs...more about that later.


Tues, Jan 27: Aydan was on the potty...cute pics, just don't want to put them on the internet.

Wed, Jan 28: My office at work. I mostly spend my time in the department with my co-workers, students, and patients. I love to get away and get some work done...its so quiet here!

Thurs, Jan 29: Kendall's newest thing is scuba diving during her bubble bath. She puts her whole face in...I always pay attention to make sure I can hear her breathing. LOL!

Friday, Jan 30: Superbowl pools from both of our jobs...tradition for both of us. One year I won $500 for the third and final because the scores didn't change! Wish us luck!

Sat, Jan 31: The temperture actually rose to the 30's today(can you say "heatwave"?) so Ozan took a shot at cooking some hamburgers and salmon on the grill in the snow! LOL! Mmmm the hamburgers were good...I don't like salmon.

Here are some random pics I'm going to use for some empty days I had from previous weeks.

Mon, Jan 19: I purchased some vinyl wall words for the house from Once Upon a Design. They have super cute stuff and they are very inexpensive. This one is for above the stove.

Sat, Jan 17: Kendall wears these huge Dora ear muffs ALL THE TIME around the house. She's not cold, she just likes to dress up!

And a few cards I made. this one is for valentine's day for Ozan. I was inspired by two talented ladies: Nicole Magouirk and Robyn Werlich. Its kind of a cross lift.

This Wednesday, my baby girl turns 6 :( I love 5 so much, I don't want it to end. There's a transperancy butterfly on there but its hard to see.

And a birthday card for my BFF daughter, who turns 9. Just a simple card, nothing fancy! I wanted to use my MM foam stamps...they were getting lonely.

Products Used

V-Day Card:

Patterned Paper: Making memories, SEI, Stampin Up, Scenic Route

Felt Hearts: american crafts

Kraft Cardstock: Hobby Lobby

Embossing Folder: Cuttlebug

Slice Die Cutting Machine: Making Memories (hearts)

Slot Punch, Stamp, Ink: Stampin Up

Wish Card:

Pattterned Papers: Scenic Route, Making Memories, Stampin Up

stamps, Ink, Big Notz Die Cut: Stampin Up

Kraft Cardstock: Hobby Lobby

Butterfly Die Cut: Cuttlebug

Transperancy: Archivers

Celebrate Card:

Cardstock: Stampin Up

Textured Cardstock: Bazzill

Punches: Marvy, Fiskars, Martha Stewart

Patterned Paper: American Crafts

Stamp and White Craft Ink: Stampin Up

Foam Stamp and Paint: Making Memores

Album Cover

So Nichol posted a cute little album with a video tutorial on her blog last week. You can see it here. It was such a great, yet easy project idea...I never would have come up with that myself.

I have a 12x12 AC album that has one of those raw chipboard covers on the front. In it are my scrapbook pages from our trip to California last year (its 90% done). And speaking of California...my friend Laura emailed me and told me how she was going to finish one of her albums the same way. I knew that I wanted to finish mine like hers also. She told me that she had already started gluing the chipboard letters and since she knew that I wanted to finish my album too, she kinda gave me a friendly race challenge to see who could finish first.

It was a tie! You can see Laura's project here. Within a few minutes we had emailed each other pics of our albums and then Laura emailed them to Nichol to show her. I had a blast...I need more races like that to get my projects done!! Thanks Nichol and Laura!

I used KI Gloo for the chipboard letters and it dried so fast. That stuff is great. I gave this album 3 coats of paint and its still a bit see-through. After that I added 2 coats of Mod Podge Sparkle and let it dry in-between coats. I also used my heat gun a bit too to speed that up...that's how I got caught up to Laura so fast. LOL!

Products Used:

Album: American Crafts

Paint: Making Memories

Chipboard Letters: JoAnns

Sealer: Mod Podge Sparkle

Gafer Tape: 7 Gypsies

Flowers: Queen and Co

Buttons: Hero Arts

Metal Tags: Making Memories

String and mini tag

just a couple of things

So I was feeling kinda low in my scrapbook mojo lately...I started lifting this LO from Jennifer McGuire and I was gonna copy it exactly, just so I could do a bit of scrapping. Well it turned into a different look to say the least...and I can say that I feel better now! This scan is a bit washed out but its really bright in real life. Had fun here with those fuzzy rub ons (had those forever and didn't know they were so cute) and I added the flowered white rub on to the bare chipboard for a little added somethin' somethin'.

My baby Kendall...just barely 3 years old here. I remember how much I loved that pea coat on her...couldn't resist buying that. Wow, what a crazy time in my life with a 3 year old and a 6 month old baby. I don't miss the sleepless nights!

My Favorite Girl
Supplies Used:
Cardstock: Hobby Lobby
Patterned Papers: Making Memories, Doodlebug Designs, and Luxe Designs
Transperancy and Fuzzy Rub Ons: Heidi Swapp
Chipboard (swirls), tags, and brads: Making Memories
Rub Ons and Chipboard Letters: American Crafts
Silver Gems: Michaels

And another quick one that I did last week with some new Chloe's Closet from Making Memories.

U Being U
Supplies Used:
Cardstock: Stampin Up
Patterned Paper, Pins, Transperancy, Staples, Binder Clip Journaling Page: Making Memories
Letter Stickers: American Crafts
Die Cut Machine: Cuttlebug
Pen: Uniball Signo

And a quick card for a child's b-day coming up...mostly DCWV paper products here. Isn't that word balloon punch cute? It was from Hobby Lobby and 1/2 off...couldn't resist! The stamps are from Colorbox's "Friendly Forest" Line. And right after I stamped the word balloon I realized my mistake. I was gonna say "Happy Bird Day to Woo". Darn! But I am not redoing it!
The white part of the owl's chest was made by using a souffle pen. always wanted to try that! And to make the ears I used a red marker then covered it with the white souffle pen...which resulted in a nice pink color.

I don't know why the tint of this card is so blue??? I can't wait until I can take pics again outside!

Week 4: Project 365

This was a typical week...except for Tuesday (day 3) and Wednesday (day 4). Boring otherwise!

Sun, Jan 18: Kendall and Aydan took a bunch of their stuffed animals from their bedrooms and brought them downstairs for a picnic.

Mon, Jan 19: {to be added later...LOL. Need to get caught up a bit}

Tues, Jan 20: We made history with our first African-American president. My kids got to see the inaugaration at school but when they were replaying it on the news that evening, I caught this picture. We're in the basement here so we got some terrible lighting.

Wed, Jan 21: Went to Archivers after work because they had the new Simply Handmade Magazine in. I was having my first card published ever in there. This is a scan of it...made the first project of the chapter and had a two page spread. Yay! The ladies even scanned a colored copy and asked me to sign it to hang up in the store. They are so sweet there!

Thurs, Jan 22: Cuddling with my boy on the couch before bedtime. I'm super tired in this picture. This picture was taken by Kendall (who's 5) with my Rebel. She has tiny hands but she did it!

Fri, Jan 23: Both kids were super-duper overdue for a haircut. I kept Aydan's hair a bit longer this time. Love the longer hair on the boys! Kendall kept saying she wanted her hair short like Mommy's...I just wasn't ready!

Sat, Jan 24: {Did nothing today...will fill in later. LOL!}

Week 3: Project 365

Nothing exciting this week in pics...I really wasn't feeling it. Next week my students come back from break so I'll have to take my camera in to work to spice things up a bit! And I need to include my husband too.

Sun, Jan 11: Aydan's cute Mater socks...he loved that I was taking pics of one of his favorite characters. He's from "Cars" in case you didn't know.

Mon, Jan 12: Ordered these Noggin t-shirts from cafepress.com. Kendall found these somehow on the internet and wanted one for her b-day (which is coming up soon), so I got one for each kid! She

also thought that she could just print one out and magically she would have a shirt. I explained to her how I had to buy it on the computer and then the mailman would bring it to us. So now she thinks that the mailman is buying her one. LOL!

Tues, Jan 13: Kendall got into her tights and shorts after school to play dress up! I was loaded in sweats freezing and she was warm...that's my baby! She never complains of being cold.

Wed, Jan 14: Aydan's teachers told us that he loves to push strollers around. We got this one out and he just races it around the house...sometimes Kendall grabs her baby doll one too and they just have a blast.

Thurs, Jan 15: "Baby in the Hood". I scored some zip up sweatshirts for Aydan for $2.50 at Target the other day. He's outgrowing his stuff so fast and we couldn't even find these anywhere. Just summer stuff :(

Fri, Jan 16: Super duper record breaking snowfalls and temps this winter. On this date it got to 34 degrees below 0. I don't know why I took a picture of myself outside in front of my house. I guess that the cold would show on my face, but it didn't! My body has probably gotten nice and thick...ready to handle winter. LOL!

Sat, Jan 17: coming soon...

Week 2: Project 365

Week 2 of Project 365 is done and this was a good week. Hard to narrow down the pics though!
Sun, Jan 4: My favorite drink in the whole wide world. Vente iced mocha, non-fat, no whip, 2 equal, easy ice mocha. Yum!

Mon, Jan 5: This is a picture of the Chicago skyline at sunrise taken from the hospital I work at. We are in the burbs, but just a few miles from the city limits, so we get a full view of the whole skyline. This picture was taken in raw format...never had success with that before. And I took about 50 pics! This under exposed but I am very happy with it. That's the Sears Tower in the center, isn't it beautiful?

Tues, Jan 6: I told my co-workers, who are all very supportive of my hobby, about my 365 project. My friend and c0-worker took this picture of me punching in. She took another one that shows my face better but I didn't like it. And we just changed our scrubs to this terrible light gray. Ugh! So if you see me wearing the same thing, that's why!

Wed, Jan 7: Kendall working on a the "tooth journal" from school. When a kindergartener looses a tooth, they bring this journal home in a canvas bag and share their story. Cute!

Thurs, Jan 8: Kendall playing with her new easy bake oven.

Fri, Jan 9: Driving home from work. I spend about 10 hours a week in my trusty Honda(knock on wood)...this baby has 117,000 miles on it. Basically this car is just for going to work! Got the idea for this picture from Becky Higgins.

Sat, Jan 10: Kendall and I went to a birthday party at a childrens' museum. We took these shots from inside of a triangular shaped mirrored tunnel. These are taken from the reflection. Came out kinda cool! I can't narrow down the pics. I'll probably print both!

My beautiful girl!

Week 1: Project 365

Last Sunday I started my 365 Project. It is a scrapbook kit that aids you in taking a photo a day, journaling it, and preserving it in a binder. This is such a great concept and it will be cool to have all those pics about our daily lives. And it will also be challenging. I really will have to keep my smaller camera in my purse to get those unexpected shots away from home. I'm going to try and keep my blog updated as well. Think it would help keep track of my journaling. I am definately going to take pics of objects, nature, daily things in our lifes. This week I have mostly my kids because they are the most important thing in my life!

Sun, Dec 28: Kendall just lost her 2nd tooth. Now she has a cute little gap. Last time the tooth fairy left a 5 dollar bill. This time she left 3 dollars in quarters. Kendall was happier with the 2nd visit. Funny!

Mon, Dec 29: Goofing off at snack time. These oranges are from Caputo's, a small Italian grocery store, and they have the best produce!

Tues, Dec 30: Kendall got into my scraproom and made this tag for Daddy.

Wed, Dec 31: Bathtime! The kids were placing these bubbles on their head. I didn't set that up. LOL!

Thurs, Jan 1: Getting a kiss from his sister.

Fri, Jan 2: Auntie Gulchin, Ozan's sister, came over and spent the day with the kids so Daddy could have a little break from the 2 weeks off of school. These kids are absolutely crazy about her and she spends the whole day playing with them and doing activities together. Love her!

Sat, Jan 3: The kids are having fun playing in the Christmas storage boxes. Maybe I should have gotten one of these as a gift to them for Christmas. LOL!

Thanks for looking!

Happy New Year

Just a short post with some pics. I took these today after work...we were all playing on the ground, wrestling, tickling, etc. And in the middle of it I tell them, "Wait! Let me get my camera, which was only about 5 feet away". They stayed for me and did some cute little poses. I was going to choose one to post, but I couldn't decide. Love them all! Guess I better scrapbook it.

Have a wonderful New Years!