Dang it's cold outside...

As I sit and look out the window at the snow coming down, I feel the need to say something really loud... but I can't cause Annde's finally asleep from coughing all night. So, I'll say it here:

I hate Michigan winters.
(courtesy of Jen Dera's blog)

I don't hate winter in general - there are tons of fun things to do in this season but Michigan has this unique spin on winter that makes it just suck: Windchill! It's so flippin' cold outside that there is no playing in the winter white, for fear of another trip to the Dr's office. I look through the scrap magazines at those wonderful winter pages and realize that none of those people live north of the Mason Dixon line... They all probably live in the Rockies where it snows beautiful masses without the sub-zero freeze factor. I should know, growing up out there... Sigh! No wonderful winter pictures today.

So, to counteract the winter blahs that I have, I've been scrapbooking in bright and fun colors. Here's a few of the pages I have done lately...

First, my stuff for the Zone. I got the Teresa Collins' Crush line in addition to some cute Thickers black bling shapes.

I love this first layout - my Mom wanted some pictures of Annde on Christmas Eve. Her camera wasn't fast enough to catch these cute poses but mine was! Don't worry, Mom, I will send you a copy of them! This was my second page - about Annde's last Valentines party at Miss Lynne's. Shocker! I forgot to scrap it!! I had printed out the pictures and "kitted" them with some very un-inspiring paper. I definitely like how the Crush line matched...

Lastly, over Xmas break, Annde went to Nickie's birthday party (she turned 11). It was a big deal because it was an overnighter with 3 older girls (all 5th grade). I have to say that Nickie, Paula, and Kitty were the best 11 year olds that I have ever met! They totally didn't play down to Annde and included her in all their fun. We only had one tantrum all night - when I made Annde go home at 2am because I was pretty sure the girls weren't going to sleep (as they settled in for a movie)... Annde sobbed for a hour before she dropped from exhaustion. You know, I realized here that I really do use a lot of sketches for inspiration. It's not necessarily because I am on a sketch DT... It's because using a sketch, such as Lisa Bearnson (How Sweet You Are) or Becky Fleck (Can I take your Pic & Party at 11) allows you to see a layout in your head and really get started without stressing over what to do with the pictures. When I first started scrapbooking, I would do the same thing every time - crop a picture into squares or circles or with those Fiskars pattern scissors and then block pattern them before attaching to the page. Add a few stickers and some journaling and I was done. But all my pages looked alike with different topics. Now, I love my layouts because they don't always look the same! I do sketch myself and create my own layouts (see the 2 layouts below the Pink Sketch page) but sometimes it's nice to not have to start completely from scratch. Especially if you are short on time or you don't know where to start or you want to use your creativity mojo on twisting the sketch to fit your needs! A lot of times, my pages barely resemble the sketch I started with and that's okay. In the end, what's important is what you do with your pages that you like.

Here's my layout for Pink Sketches last week. If you check out the site, you will see that the original sketch is 90 degrees off of mine. Additionally, there was no center pictures. I added that because I couldn't part with the faces of her gaming on the computer.

Here's some more layouts that I did... I have a few more but they will have to wait a bit longer because you are probably getting tired of reading my chatter.

I really, really love this page. It is totally me: full of texture and bright colors and sassy attitude! I took this pictures at a playdate with Keegan and Annde. Aren't they hilarious? I love the layered journaling blocks and the ribbon and bling. This page is just full of fun!

Here are some closeups to show the layering and the ribbon. The paper for the Always remember today and the date were originally white but I wanted to distinquish it a little bit so I grabbed some chalk ink - always a fun addition! I love all the pearl dots on the ribbon and various flowers. I even used one to mark what date it was on the calendar circle.


This page shows a softer side of the Keegan and Annde relationship, with Aiden, too. The time has just flown by, hasn't it? Tracy had uploaded the pictures from 2005 into my Snapfish and sent me a note that I didn't need to scrap this Blast from the Past... but how could I not? The 3 kids have grown so much but still look the same - Annde still can't seem to focus on looking at the camera, eh? This page was a lot of fun because I did a ton of texturing... I actually fingerpainted the stickles. The look of it came out just perfect.
Steve mocked me on this page because I was sewing on the butterflies after I fixed one of his dress shirts - it needed a few new buttons on the collar points. Anyway, after I did the shirt, I grabbed some embroidery floss and start sewing on the page. Every page I have done since then, he's asked where the stitching was or why I was stitching on the page... what a dork! I guess I do stitch a lot too - all by hand though. If I pulled out my sewing machine, I would never hear the end of it! :)


Well, ta-ta for now. I am off to entertain the kidlet. I will have some more later on. Yesterday during school, I did 2 layouts - my one for Janice - and a mini book in just under 3 hours! I was very inspired, I guess... Plus, later this week, I will have some great news to post. (Before you ask, no, we're not pregnant!) C YA L8R!