Finally back!

Well, it's been three long months without scrapping!As I was packing up my family's things to head to head up north for Thanksgiving, I received an e-mail about the one hour sketch contest at creative scrappers.com, so I took the bait... Here's what I came up with...

Now, creative-scrappers.com is hosting a sketchfest for the next week (Nov 30-Dec 7) and I can't wait to see if I can finish any more pages! It is gonna be kind of tough since I have to finish my course work for the class I am taking (final class on 12/6) plus getting ready for the holidays, but if I can even manage to squeeze a couple of layouts in by Sunday evening, I will be happy! Stop by their site and check out all of the fun things going on this week!

End of Summer Blues...

Totally getting bummed out about the end of summer... Summer is definitely my favorite time of year - LOVE the warm weather and the relaxed pace of everything (not to mention baseball season!)

This year is going to be especially hard for me though since I will be working full time (even if it is only temporary) teaching Biology at the high school in town. I am scheduled to fill in for a teacher who is out on maternity leave until the Friday before Thanksgiving. After only subbing a few days each month on a day to day basis since my dd was born, I am really feeling a bit overwhelmed at what I've taken on. It's bad enough that it is going to be full time, but it is compounded by the fact that the only Biology I've had is my own 9th grade Biology class (many moons ago!) It's not like I don't like science, it's just that my major is chemistry and minor is physics...

Anyway, I know I am going to have a lot of support from the administration at the school - they are even letting me take my kiddos to school on the first day of class so I can get pics and see them off... DS starting his last year of elementary school (boo hoo) and DD going full day for the first time (boo hoo too!!!)

I guess my point in this whole post is that for anyone who visits occaisionally... I may not have any time for scrapping/photography/blogging during then next couple of months (although if I can manage to squeeze even a few minutes, you know I will)... So take care and I'll see you when time allows!

HAPPY FALL!!!

Awesome Blogs

Just thought I'd share some blogs that I've run across lately - all of which are offering some sweet RAK's/giveaways:

http://pamelasworldofscrap.blogspot.com/
http://bobunny.blogspot.com/
http://www.cosmocricket.blogspot.com/


Or offer Awesome Tutorials:
http://www.yosemites-scrapbook.blogspot.com/
http://scrapperlicious.blogspot.com/

Will add more as I find them! Enjoy!

Fancy Pants DT Submission

I decided to take the chance and send in my work to the FP Design Team Call... Can't be picked if you don't submit...Right? Well, there have been several issues with the submission process and e-mails being sent back to everyone. The layouts and project I am working on sending in are below. Wish me luck!

Catching up

It's been awhile since my last post... Things have been pretty busy. The last few weeks of July brought a mix of great scrapping news my way, but life in general has been a mixed bag.

I am excited to say that I have SIX items being published in the month of August!!! All are in on-line magazines, but this is truly a record accomplishment for me. Two of my layouts will be published in Scrapstreet.com's magazine and three layouts plus my acrylic album will be published in Scrapbook News and Review. To top it off, I was selected as the Guest Creative Team Member for the month of August at Scrapbook Doodle! This is my first ever creative/design team selection! The kit for August that I received to create with is AWESOME - you should really check it out! A few of the things I was able to create using it are below. The best part is, is that I still have tons of goodies left to creat more wonderful pages!

Unfortunately, life in general has not been the greatest, but we are trying to look on the bright side... DH lost his job at Ford due to the cutbacks. He has a great attitude about the whole situation and has not been that happy in his job during the last couple of years. The fact that it is summer and there are so many things to do around the house/with the family (more time with the kids!) helps as well. If something else comes up relatively quickly, this would actually be a blessing! Let's keep our fingers crossed!

DS finished up baseball season... His team was eliminated from the playoffs in the first game, losing badly to a team they have beaten in the past. It really seemed that his team was half asleep on the field that night... There's always next year! The loss that night allowed the majority of his team to get together a couple of days later (when they "should" have been playing in the second round of the playoffs) for a pool party to celebrate the end of the season. DS was fortunate enough to play one more game - the all star game! He was picked as one of the top four players from his team... What a thrill for him.

DD is chugging right along in gymnastics class this summer. This week, she made it to the very top of the climbing rope for the first time. It's amazing how quickly she is learning things and getting stronger now that she has moved up in the classes. Only one more week of baseball and tennis for her... We won't know what to do with ourselves once all the activities have ended!

The month ended with bad news about a 9 year old little schoolmate of DS and DD who has been battling lymphoma for the past nine months. On August 1st, she lost her battle and has moved on to better things. These next few days will be difficult ones for our community. I don't think that anyone in our relatively small city hasn't been touched by her story and her life. Earlier in the year the city banded together and held a fundraiser to help her family with medical expenses and raised an incredible amount of money. There were nearly 100 items donated for the "Chinese" auction plus approximately 50 items in the silent auction. In the first hour of the benefit alone, $1000 in 50-50 tickets were sold. I think that every teacher from the school was there volunteering in some way. I know that today at the viewing and tomorrow at the funeral, the family will receive the same support. Please pray that her family can find the strength to make it through these days and weeks ahead that will be oh, so difficult.

Well, enough for today. Hopefully I will do a better job of keeping up next month!

Old Time Favorites (and a couple of recent faves too!)

Just going through some of my old layouts and remembering how much I loved some of them...

I just loved the title I came up with for this one...



This was my first attempt to submit to CK for the Becky Sketch... It didn't get selected for the mag, but I really loved it. It was also my first attempt at using color select in Photoshop...



I loved this one because of the action shots and the journaling...




My dd enjoying a donut... A completely unintentional "passionate" shot which turned into this layout.



I love this one for the photo and the fact that I did it as a gift to a friend and former student... The young lady who is pictured was a student of mine six years prior to the photo being taken, then her younger sister just happens to be the same age as my ds and now her mother and I play wallyball together. I saw the photo one day when I was substitute teaching at the high school and had the chance to look through the yearbook... I called her shortly after that and asked if I could get a copy of the pic so I could scrap it for her. I ended up doing a few pages for her, but this is still my fave.


This one of my ds just came together... Love the swirls and how it represents a blustery winter day...



And finally two gifts that were given to two very special people... First my ds third grade teacher's gift at the end of the year - this was also the first item I ever had accepted to the BG gallery.



And second, I did this layout for my dear friend whose husband was killed in a horrible car accident last June. I had her youngest daughter in my Sunday School class when she was three, watched her on the days mom had to work when she was in K with my ds and have now discovered that mom and I share the passion for scrapping. The journaling is the lyrics for the song "Everything I Own" by Bread (which is on my playlist if you care to listen). I heard the song just after the accident and ended up crying as I was driving down the street listening. I knew I had to do this for her at that point.

7 Random Facts (Scrapbook Doodle Summer Blog Party Challenge week of 7/7)

Some random facts about me...

1. I have lived in 3 states (Illinois, South Carolina and Michigan)
2. I love Christmas music and can listen to it year round (especially stuff like TransSiberian Orchestra and non-traditional stuff like Mariah Carey's Christmas album)
3. I love listening to High School Musical CD's with my kids in the car (even though I won't let them know that!)
4. I can't get enough of watching my kids sports activities
5. My favorite food group is definitely carbs - I could eat breakfast all day long (cereal, oatmeal, pancakes, waffles, bagels, muffins, french toast, etc. - especially with fruit and nuts added!)
6. I hate when women wear too much purfume and you end up smelling like them if you get too close (think hugging your family members etc.) but don't usually have a problem when I get a good whiff of someone wearing a great mens cologne (even if it is a bit strong)
7. I hate shopping for clothes especially when I really need to find something for a special occaision - Either I can't find anything that fits the way I like it to or I just can't find anything I like...

Tagging: Staci (http://stopitsscrappintime.blogspot.com/), Cheryl (http://www.scrapbook.com/blogs/30781.html), Susan (http://www.scrapbook.com/blogs/156181.html), Jennifer (http://www.scrapbook.com/blogs/123715.html), Heidi (http://www.scrapbook.com/blogs/42834.html), Martha (http://www.scrapbook.com/blogs/23502.html), Jan (http://www.scrapbook.com/blogs/127239.html)

Baseball 08

Ok, so not quite sure why the slide show stopped showing the photos, and couldn't figure out how to replace the slideshow with a new one/edit the slide show, so I just made a new slideshow, and a new post and deleted the original one which was dated Tuesday June 24...

I just love watching my son play baseball. He TRULY LOVES the sport which makes it even more exciting. If he is on the field, he is happy! Here are a few shots of him during a few of the games he's played this summer. Last night was his first "real" chance at pitching - He ended up being the winning pitcher and only allowed 2 runs in three innings, with5 strike outs! He did pitch one other inning when our regular 9 year old was late getting to the game, but was replaced by that 9 year old once he arrived. This week the regular pitcher is on vacation in Florida and it has given ds the chance to SHINE! The coaches seemed really impressed and were raving about the way he pitched last night. Hopefully, he will get the chance to pitch some more during the next couple of weeks and into the playoffs! I am so excited for him since this is something he's been wanting to do all season! He can't stop talking about what a great game it was last night. It was the first time we've won against that team in three attempts this season!

My First Acrylic Album

Well, I finally got around to using this GREAT acrylic album I picked up at the Mega Meet in May! Loved working with it and found it to be the perfect place to "store" some of the portraits I took of Lara in her dance costumes this year. Thanks for taking a peek!

Well, dd finally did it! She's been asking me if she can get her hair cut for the past couple of weeks, and today she actually went through with it! She cut it herself about 18 months ago (much to my shock and heartbreak) and once I got over the inital moments realized how cute it looked shorter. Well, aparently she agreed since she just discovered a photo from that time frame and decided she wanted it to look like that again. I figure now is a great time to let her do it since it will be so much easier to handle over the summer months, plus it was long enough to donate to a local place that only requires 6 inches of hair for kids with hair loss. I am so proud of her and she looks even more adorable than ever (if I do say so myself!) Pictures coming this evening after ds baseball game (can't be late for that!!!)

Before:

After:

First Attempt at portraits

Just a few images of dd in her dance costume... These photos were taken in our family room with a makeshift backdrop and only the natural light from the windows and skylights. We were a bit rushed since dd decided she wanted to get her hair cut (significantly) and I wanted to get these portraits done as she looked for her dance recital (two weeks ago). My camera is a Canon S5IS and I used the action and portrait settings to get these photos... Definitely a FIRST attempt with minimal planning and props/equipment. Let me know if you see any you like!