Rocking in the New Year...

This year, we spent NYE with some friends at their house in South Minneapolis. We had a great time eating, drinking and playing Rock Band.

AIA Fun Run

A co-worked and I volunteered on the AIA 150th anniversary Fun Run planning committee a few years ago. Some of our other co-workers showed up that day to run and/or volunteer. I think everyone had a great time.

The boys

A layout with pictures of me, Jaedon and Kaleb.

Our First Christmas as Mr. and Mrs...

Pictures from our first Christmas married...2006. The little snowflake "tabs" you see peeking out of the left side of the green are the Christmas cards we exchanged that year, hidden in a pocket.

Birthday Boys

Jaedon and Greg's birthday celebration last June in Steph and Pat's backyard.

2009 Cover page

This is going to be the cover page of our 2009 scrapbook...we were ringing in the New Year in this picture. I loved how this paper was perfect for the colors in the picture. Happy New Year!!!

31...

A layout about Greg's 31st birthday celebration with just me and him. He got back from his bike rally the day before his birthday, and I made him a special dinner of brined and grilled beer can chicken, baked beans and one of his favorite cakes that I made: homemade white cake with strawberry meringue frosting.

A new layout...

On one of my scrapping message boards, someone asked to see examples of two-page layouts with lots of photos. That inspired me to scan and upload some pages I did this summer but haven't taken the time to share. So here's some fresh artwork for you all, especially since it's been a month since my last post.

These are pictures of our family members at my husband and nephew's joint birthday party back in July. I love all the candid photos.

The papers are by KI Memories, the flowers are by Prima, the letters were cut from a Doodlebug Cricut cartridge, and the buttons are by SEI.

another...

This one is of photographs taken at the Sculpture Garden at the Walker Art Center. I love showing this attraction off to visitors because even if they don't particularly enjoy art, the sculptures are memorable and it gives you a chance to get out and walk around, see something unique to the cities and it provides a great setting for catching up with each other.

The papers are by Luxe Designs and the title is American Crafts Thickers.

another...

This layout is of pictures we took over Memorial weekend on a visit to Omaha. The people in the pics are me and my husband, my mom and my grandma. I was so pleased with how the photos turned out I just had to find a way to get lots on a page. For you scrapping types: the paper and brads are by Little Yellow Bicycle; the paper flowers are from Close to my Heart and the title was cut from a Cricut Cartridge (one of the Doodlebug fonts).

Birthday Layout

Here's a layout I did with pictures from Greg's 31st birthday this year. He had celebrations stretched out from late June to the first weekend in August, by the time we were able to travel to see all sides of the family and he enjoyed that. He went on a bike rally the weekend before his birthday, so I was able to greet him with a deluxe birthday dinner upon his return: beer can chicken, potato salad, bake beans, and strawberry meringue frosting on homemade white cake.

Papers by Creative Imaginations, scallop edge created with Fiskars threading waters punch, scallop circle punch by Marvy Uchida, rubber "happy birthday embellishment and photo turns from a CKU kit, numbers cut from a Cricut cartridge, then covered in Stickles by Ranger Industries.

Zoo Layout

Back on the first weekend in August, my sister-in-law and her family went to Omaha to visit the zoo. Because we were in town visiting my family, we were able to spend part of the day with them. We didn't have a lot of time, we did manage to get through the aquarium (one of my favorites) and grab some ice cream. I also got pooped on by a bird! Can you believe that? I worked at that zoo for 5 years and never once got pooped on! And then we're standing there, minding our own business, waiting for ice cream and I become the target. Oh well, we still had a great day. This was one of the first times, too, that Jaedon was able to recognize us without prompts from mom. He greeted us "Hi Gegg. Hi Shell." Lovin' that for sure!

For you scrap-minded readers: the paper is We R Memory Keepers exclusive line for Archiver's, the stickers are by EK Sucess, the scalloped rectangle cardstock is by Bazzill, the lines for journalling were created using an Autumn Leaves stamp, and the circle behind the pelican sticker was created with a Close to my Heart Stamp & ink topped with Stickles by Ranger Industries.

New Layout

This is a layout I did yesterday for a challenge on a scrapping message border. These are photos of my nephew and I in May.

Layouts

Here's some layouts I've worked on recently.

The first is a photograph that was taken in May when my mom, my aunt, me, my cousin and several of my mom's cousins got together for lunch for a mini reunion. The papers and circle tag are My Mind's Eye, flowers are Prima. I stamped the dotted border and cut the title with my digital cutter.

The next is about seeing my nephew Jaedon back in January when he was first learning "Ring Around the Rosy" but wouldn't fall down at the end of the song. The papers are Cosmo Cricket, the circle embellishments are Scenic Route, the work "play" is made with thickers from American Crafts, the Rubons are also Cosmo Cricket. I made the journalling box on my computer based on an article I saw in Simple Scrapboks this spring.

The last one is a layout I did of a picture of my mom and I from Easter this year. Simple but to the point. The papers are Basic Gray (red) and Bo-Bunny (green); the border is a sticker from All My Memories.

Thanks for looking.

I hope you're all doing well.

Michelle

Still not Spring?

Mother Nature has been teasing us again! Warm, sunny beautiful days (we're almost talking short weather here) followed by cold, rainy and even SNOWY days. Yes, SNOW. In the end April.

I really thought spring was on it's way...and it still is, but just sidetracked I guess. We've barbequed several nights, and my plants are starting to poke through.

When I was growing up, my grandparents lived on an acreage, and I remember starting in late winter, they would scour the seed catalogs to decide what plants they were going to grow in the spring. They'd place their order and start their seedlings indoors on these lighted shelves my grandpa built and then after the last freeze, they transfer those sprouts to the flower beds on the acreage.

With limited space, I decided to try this on a much smaller scale...and so far, so good! I have one small tray of purple and pink sweet peas and one small tray of assorted pink/coral sweet peas growing happily in my kitchen window.

Also, sadly, when I stepped out this morning to snap a photo of the snow that actually stuck, I realized my irises were poking out and had snow around them. Hopefully they'll be OK. But assuming they're OK, I'll have irises, coral bells, and hostas that come back on their own and then I'll probably pick a few filler plants when it warms up and stays warm!

I got another layout done this week. This one is of my scrapgirls at our ornament exchange last Christmas.

In other news, Greg and I've had a fun, busy week. We babysat for a friends' little girl last week which took us to the Zoo and McDonald's Playland. We went to a small group game night with some friends church and Greg had softball practice and men's Bible study. Also, my supervisor at work treated my team to dinner one night this for Admin's week. So it was a fun, busy week! Tonight we have a karaoke party at a friends' house. Should be fun!

Weekend update

This weekend has been wonderful so far, and the best part is we get one more day! Hurray! I took yesterday afternoon off to help my cousin with some errands and we had a really nice time together. Sometimes I worry that our age difference will set us apart (11 years) but usually it doesn't. We always find some things to talk about and I love hearing all about her college experience, her friends, her classes. Today, Greg and I got to sleep in a little before getting ready for a big day of babysitting. We had a great time with our friend's three-year-old daughter at the zoo and then at McDonald's playland, but now we are two tired puppies. Well, three because we wore her out too! Lots of playing and lots of fresh air. Tonight we were too tired to do much, but we did head to Barnes and Noble for a few minutes right before they closed. Tomorrow, we plan to go to church and then I'm meeting some of my scrap girls for a class. Should be great!

Here's a few layouts I sneaked in tonight while Greg watched a movie I didn't want to see :) The top layout, Mini Moo, is of my nephew's first Halloween. For you scrappy folks, the papers are Heidi Grace, the stitches are rub-ons by Die Cuts w/ a View, and the letters are American Crafts chipboard thickers. The bottom layout is of a family pet, Clancy. The papers are SEI, the letters are foam American Crafts Thickers, and the paw-print charm is Junkitz.

Everyone have a great rest of your weekend!

The Outtakes

Here's a layout I did with the "outtakes" I got when I did the Valentine's photo shoot of Jaedon...even the outtakes are pretty cute, but I may be biased. :)

For you scrappers: the papers are SEI, the flowers are Prima, the "bling" is Hero Arts and Mark Richards, the paper clip is Making Memories, the epoxy sticker is Cloud 9 and the letter stickers are American Crafts.

Thanks for stopping by!

A family layout

Here's a layout I did of some family photos. We were at a close family friends' wedding reception and we ended up getting some great pictures of everyone. These pictures are of my two cousins, my aunt and uncle, my mom, my grandma and my husband. I think we look pretty spiffy. Oh, and my aunt is making that funny face because "Cowboy's Don't Smile".

For my scrappy friends: the patterned paper is Doodlebug, the scalloped cardstock is from Bazzill...it came as a large 12x12 square but I cut it in half, layered it over each other to be the right height of the photo block then hid the seam with photos and ribbon; Prima flowers, Hero Arts sticky pearls, chipboard swirls painted white, and the title was cut from Pharmacy (a free font from the internet).

Some of my recent work...

I've had some creative time lately, so I thought I'd share some of my creations:

First, a birthday card I made for a friend:

Chatterbox papers, Stampin' up stamp filled in with watercolor pencils and stickles. Oh, and that's my tuxedo cat, Baci, just hanging out!

And a couple layouts, one of Greg & his brother, the other of my cousins.

The journalling reads, "Fall 2007: I came around the corner & found David and Greg standing like this (not consciously), talking. Think they might be brothers? The buttons are Basic Grey, one ribbons is from the Target dollar spot, the other is from KI Memories, the papers are We R Memory Keeps, and the font is Pharmacy. You can find these papers at Scraploft, a store owned by my friends Jenn and Sarah.

My cousins:

The papers and flower stickers are by Making Memories, the letter stickers are American Crafts. The journalling "November, 2007: Even though the girls have gotten closer as they've gotten older, there are still moments of sisterly teasing. Tonight, our family attended a dinner reception for Kim & Brian Labedz and Melissa, who is always cold, huddled in Emily's coat at the table. When she finally took it off, Emily did this impression of her, inspring "The Look" from Melissa. :)

A few layouts

I went with my friend Erin and couple of her friends last weekend for ScrapMania at Archivers. We celebrated Erin's birthday that night and had fun scrapping the night away (after appetizers and cocktails next door at Applebee's). Here's two of the layouts I got done that night.

The first is about the cupcakes I made last fall for our friend Ijaz's annual Halloween party. I had to resort to making them because my first choice recipe, for witches broomsticks, turned out more like cookies on a stick. For you scrappers out there, the papers are Scenic Route, the letters are American Crafts and the die cut is from the QK Silhouette library.

The second layout are photos of my cat 'Cio I took in January. I was really pleased at how well they turned out, and was excited to use this paper I had bought a few years ago because I knew it'd look good w/ 'Cio. It's bold and graphic so I was a little intimidated by it, but I'm pleased with how it turned out. The stamps are by Hero Arts.