Friday, February 24, 2012

Flashback Friday - 6th Grade Graduation

We got hit with a yucky sick bug at our house this week - the older girls missed a couple of days of school and we haven't done much this week.  For some reason (named Valerie) I got the urge to go through some old pictures so I pulled the box out of my closet and started my trip down memory lane.  For my friends on Facebook, sorry if you're sick of all the old pics I've been posting ;-)  Anyway, it also got me in the mood to start scrapping again - like hands on scrapping, not just digital.  Since moving here I have hardly printed any new pictures, which is a good thing, I guess, since I do have a lot already printed!  In R-ton I lived a block away from Walgreens so I would go online, order the pictures I wanted to scrap, pick them up in less than an hour, and do a page or two.  Here we don't have good local photo printing options - I have to take a memory card or jump drive to the hardware store, sort through and order my pics on a dinky little kiosk, which is just no fun, especially with kids.  Plus I've never been pleased with the prints, the colors always seem off, and it takes forever for just a couple of prints.  Now I know I could always order them online and have them shipped but I am just never that prepared in advance to know which pictures and what sizes I want to order a large quantity of pics to make it worth the shipping cost. Thankfully Studio J has kept me scrapping recent pictures, so I can't complain!  If I want to get some hands on scrappin' done I will turn to my box of already printed pages - it's a good way to accomplish that goal anyway!

Anyway, didn't mean to ramble - what I really came here for today is to share some pages that I finished up yesterday.  I used some Fancy Kewl papers from Fancy Pants Designs that I've had in my stash for a few years now.  I picked this paper because of the teal color (which matches my dress) and notebook lined papers (which goes along with my school theme).  I only had one page of the teal pattern I wanted to use, and only a few inches left of the lined paper, so I had to stretch it as much as I could.  I will show you how I did below.  I used a sketch from the PageMaps 2 book.
You can see that I used the patterned paper along the top of both pages.  Then I got the idea to use my Cricut and the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge to add some leaf shapes to the bottom white space and tie in the pattern above.  Then I got the idea to use my spray pen (mixed with water, re-inker, and pearl paint) to mask some designs with the shapes that I had just cut out.  I am really pleased with how it turned out.
I used the Field Trip Alphabet and Classmate Alphabet stamps for my title.  I used the CTMH ink colors Ocean (retired), and Tulip as they matched well.  I think Lagoon would have worked as well, but Ocean was the first color that came to my mind.
But wait, that's not all - I also wanted to fit more pictures without adding more pages, so I used the handy Flip Flaps (I used one 4x12 and one 8x12) and now the entire right page opens up to reveal more.  Here you can see how I stretched the last 4x12 piece of teal flowered paper - the top piece is actually the back of the pattern from the front page - I was going to cover it or fill it up with something but decided to leave it as is.
Here is how it looks in the page protectors/Flip Flaps all put together (except the top flap is closed in this picture).
This scrapbook is the very first scrapbook I ever received - my grandparents gave it to me years ago and ultimately (along with some help from my aunt) got me started in scrapbooking.  This one is full of just my childhood pages and is about 4 inches thick, but I think it's time to divide it up!
Thanks for looking and joining me on my flashback!

Sunday, February 5, 2012

My Latest Studio J Layouts

Thanks to the awesome Studio J special last month, I got a lot of layouts completed and ordered (some I ordered duplicates of) - and thanks to this month's special, I will get even more done!  I love filling up my books so quickly and easily!  Some of these I kept really simple, and some I had fun playing around with the stitching and layering Stickease.  Here is a quick look at the pages I've done lately.









Saturday, February 4, 2012

January Re-Cap

So I'm not very good about staying up to date - I might just do better at a once a month update!  Here are a few things that happened in our family during January.
Brianna had a couple of friend birthdays to go to - here she is dressed up for a Rock Star b-day, she won a prize for her costume ;-)
And as always, she has to be a goof!
Kaylee had a dress-up day at school, it was 'Injured Day' - I was so worried someone was going to report me ;-)  I took a pic before school - I guess she was acting like a zombie.
That day after school she got her hair cut - chopped a few inches off and added bangs and a feather.

I was in charge of Mommy Preschool one day - I had a lot of fun stuff planned because it was also Chinese New Year that day.  Unfortunately only one kid showed up, and she was late, so we did most of the stuff on our own.  We wore red, did a ribbon dance (made from pencils and crepe paper streamers I had on hand), and ate our fruit snacks with chopsticks.  I also made fortune cookies - our letter for the day was N so the fortunes in the cookies just had Nn on it.  Our assigned shape and number for the day were rectangle and 12 which worked out perfectly as we talked about Dominoes.  Brailee liked doing math facts with them.  Here she is gluing her 12 dots onto her Dominoe.
Ribbon Dance
Chopsticks
Brianna got glasses this month - she was so excited when we found out at her yearly eye appointment - and even more excited when they finally arrived.  She just needs them for reading and schoolwork.
This big guy had a birthday - can you guess how old he is?
I love the smile on his face as we sang Happy Birthday.  I went super simple on the cake - crushed up some cookies to make dirt and added some toy construction vehicles - he loved it!
As he opened this present from Gma and Gpa DeVries he was so excited to see 'Poppers' - my kids love to jump on these and pop them.  He was also excited to see the presents too.  With each present he would open he would say, 'Ooooh' and then it was usually followed by 'I love it!'  Even the new church shoes he got received a hug and 'I love them!'  He's easy to please!

Love this little guy.  Sometimes he's super cheesy...
...but when he pulls this face, watch out!
I love how these two get along (most of the time).  They have fun together while the older two are in school.  I weighed them the other day just before they jumped in the bathtub and they were both exactly 39.4 pounds.  It really doesn't surprise me that they weigh the same even though she is 2 years older.  Trysten (3) is just solid and Brailee (5) is a lot thinner (and about a head taller.)  Trysten's height is in his upper body and Brailee's is in her legs.  Such cuties!
Thanks for visiting!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

It's Here!

The NEW Spring/Summer 2012 Idea Book from Close To My Heart is now live!  You can click HERE to view it page by page online.  Or, if you would like your own copy, if you are local I will drop one off to you, or if you're long distance I can mail you one - contact me at jvdevries22@hotmail.com to find out how to get yours!  I will also be having an Open House later this month with a chance to get your free copy plus lots of other freebies - details to be announced.  Click HERE to visit my website and see what's new and browse all of the available products.

Here's a look at the new paper packs.  Click on the link to view the entire collection.


Here are the specials available this month - click the links for more details or contact me if you have any questions.
February Stamp of the Month - available only during the month of February.  You can buy it at retail price ($17.95) or with an order of $50 or more you can get it for just $5!
Five for Free - for each Studio J 5-pack that you buy in February, you will get one free!  That's 10 layouts for the price of 5, what a great deal!

Stay tuned for upcoming events and some special offers.  Don't forget to LIKE my Facebook page to stay up to date and qualify for some extra giveaways!