PageMaps - Apron Strings sketch contest

I used the following sketch from the PageMaps Blog's latest contest and created this page for Trysten's 7 Month Calendar page. This contest was supposed to have a summer theme - I think the only way it qualifies is the fact that the picture was taken in the summer ;-) as it has more of a baby theme to me! But it's been a while since I've entered their contests so it was fun to try again!

This is where I got a little ahead of myself - usually for his calendar pages I like to use a picture that was taken close to the 24th so I can get a good month in between pictures, but I just loved this picture way too much and had to use it, even though this picture was only taken one week after his 6 month page picture. Isn't he just the cutest! This was another super quick page - all I had to cut was the circles and photo mat and the stamping was fast and easy - you can tell I did it quickly as I got some of my 'stitches' crooked, but I like how it turned out. Oops - I just noticed on all the calendar pages that I posted this week that I forgot to add my filler squares - I'm off to do that now!

Products Used (All CTMH): Stardust Paper Pack, Circle Around stamp set, Rustic Numbers, Hodge Podge Alphabet, Comments stamp set.

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I have one more page from Trysten's calendar to post tomorrow so I hope you're not sick of it and will come back to see more! Thanks for looking!

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Oh, and if you'd like to check out all the calendar pages, you can view them at the following links:
Birth Month

1 Month Old

2 Months Old
3 Months Old & 4 Months Old
5 Months Old

6 Months Old

6 Month Calendar Page

Here is another calendar page that I got done - this one was inspired by another layout from the August 2009 PageMaps, but I had this last Level 1 page left from my Stardust pack and I put the two ideas together.

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Click on the picture to view it larger.

And a close-up of the 'notebook paper' that I created with the Comments stamp and a sneak peek at the upcoming December SOTM, Notice the Details - I embossed the edge onto the paper, then used my Crop-a-dile to punch the holes and cut along the edge.

Products Used (All CTMH): Stardust Paper Pack and Stickease, Rustic Numbers, Hodge Podge Alphabet, Comments stamp set, Notice The Details stamp set.

Check back tomorrow for another calendar page - it's one of my favorites! Thanks for looking!

Oh, and if you'd like to check out all the calendar pages, you can view them at the following links:

Birth Month
1 Month Old
2 Months Old

3 Months & 4 Months

5 Months

On A Roll...

...and it feels so good to be scrapbooking again! This last weekend I got caught up on Trysten's calendar and even a little ahead of myself - you'll see why in a couple of days. For now here is his 5 month page! I used a layout from the August 2009 PageMaps - I just rotated it once clockwise. This was a super quick layout - the Stickease added just the right touches without taking a lot of time. Looking at it now, I wish I would have placed the picture higher on the page, but I'm still pleased with how it came out.

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You can click on the picture to view it larger.

Products Used (All CTMH): Stardust Paper Pack and Stickease, Rustic Numbers, Hodge Podge Alphabet, Circle Around stamp set.

Check back tomorrow for his 6 month page - thanks for looking!

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Oh, and if you'd like to check out all the calendar pages, you can view them at the following links:
Birth Month

1 Month Old

2 Months Old
3 Months & 4 Months

Ghostbuster Pages

Here are some pages I have done of Ghostbuster - he was such a great horse - he will be missed! Thank you for looking and thanks for all the sweet comments and encouraging words! My kids have handled it better than I thought they would - Kaylee especially loved Ghostbuster, she takes after me with her love of horses. After I talked to my dad, Brailee could tell I was upset and asked me why I was sad. I told her that Ghostbuster had died and she said, "Will he wake up tomorrow?" I briefly tried to explain the best I could to a 2 year old and we haven't talked about it since. Then last night when David got home she went up to him and said, "Ghostbuster died and now I can't ride him anymore." Oh how I wish that weren't so!

I'm even getting brave enough to post some "old" pages - I did these at least 10 years ago! Now keep in mind, I did these back in high school, so lack of supplies and experience contributed to these pages - thank goodness for decorative scissors (which I still have, by the way), decorative borders and markers, or they would be even plainer! As much as I don't like my style on these pages, I will never re-do them (except maybe the water damaged one) as it shows how my style has changed over the years!

Finally!

I haven't posted any layouts in almost two months - besides my Word Puzzle Workshop layouts, I haven't been doing many pages lately, I've had lots of other projects I've been doing instead. Trysten's Calendar is the only thing I've had a chance to work on for myself. I've been trying to get back on track, though - last year by this time I had already met my yearly goal - this year I only have 23 completed pages, so I'd better get busy!

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Here are the pages (the only ones with pictures and journaling, that is) that I did back in May. I was originally going to do the Front & Center - Mosaic pattern from Reflections, but then I found this Level 1 page, so I combined the two ideas. I used the Rustic Numbers for the '3' and Hodge Podge Alphabet for the 'months old'. I used a Stickease for the tag and tied it all together with a bit of White Daisy RicRac ribbon. This one came together really fast - I am starting to like the Level 1 pages, as long as I have pictures that work with them! I love this Stardust paper - it's what I will be using through his entire calendar.

Then I got these ones done yesterday. I used another Level 1 page, so another quickie. I just added some Stickease to the corner, along with some Bigger Brads, and used the Solo 4 (clear embossed on the patterned paper) and Small Friendship Alphabet (embossed with Heavenly Blue EP) for the title.

Thanks for looking! If you missed them before and would like to see the other calendar pages I've done for Trysten, you can see them at the following links:

Birth Month

1 Month Old

2 Months Old

My First Boy Pages!

Trysten is now one week old and he already has his first pages done! This is the first month of his baby calendar - I have to wait until I get the rest of my Stardust paper (I only have the bulk paper so far) and a full calendar (I only have this partial one left from when I did my friend's baby calendar) so I can finish the rest, but I'm really excited! I'm probably just going to copy what I did with hers, just to make it easier, but hey, there's nothing wrong with that, right!

I used some Stardust papers, and the white frame and letter 'T'came from the Dazzling Die-Cuts. I also used some DE stars (covered with Honey Textured CS and stamped with the background stamp from Rustic Flowers), some Moonstruck Waxy Flax, the Building Block Alphabet for his name and Classic Caps for the month. So how am I doing with the whole boy scrapping thing so far ;-) It's a whole new world to me but so far a lot of fun! Thanks for looking!

Christmas * 1989

Here is the layout that I did for this month's Reflections Challenge - I can't believe that this was almost 20 years ago - wow! I found this letter from my Great Grandma and Grandpa Sager - they had it attached to the picture at the top - the letter is tucked in a file folder behind that picture - I have also listed all the names on the file folder. Then I was lucky enough to find these other pictures from that same Christmas so I was very glad to get to put them together. The picture on the bottom left is me, my brother, and two of my cousins - it's amazing to see how much the family has grown since then - of the 4 grandchildren pictured there, two of us are married, one is getting married next Spring, and the other just left on his mission this year! There are now 10 more grandchildren (if I counted right), and my children which makes 3 (almost 4) great-grandchildren!

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The letter is so simple and sweet - it reads:

Dear Jena Vee,

Christmas is a time to celebrate the circle of our family's love. The greatest gift we can give to our grandchildren and great grandchildren is this picture of our family to remind you of the small family circle that has grown larger and larger over the years to include you and to eventually include your children and many others.
This testimony of the eternal plan of being a forever family is just part of the gift of life that Jesus Christ brought to us at his birth so many hundred years ago.

"I have a family here on earth,

They are so good to me.

I want to share my life with them through all eternity.

Families can be together forever

through Heavenly Father's plan.

I always want to be with my own family,

And the Lord has shown me how I can."

-Ruth Muir Gardner

Put this Christmas message and picture in a Book of Remembrance where it will let you keep the circle of our family's love alive in your heart and mind.

Merry Christmas with Love, Grandma and Grandpa Sager

Products Used - All CTMH: Traditional Holiday paper pack (retired), Classic Caps, Boutique Numbers, Adorning Corners

I Did It!

At the beginning of the year, I set a goal of how many layouts I wanted to complete this year. I decided I could do at least 2 pages per week, so I set my number at 104. Well, as of last night, I have reached my layout goal for 2008 and we're barely halfway through the year! I'm so excited, even though I still have THOUSANDS more pictures to scrap ;-) But I'm having fun and preserving memories, that's what counts, right? I know some gals who scrap way more than 104 layouts in a year, so to some it may not seem like a lot, but this was a good goal for me. I looked back at last year and estimated that I only got about 50 layouts done, so double that in half the time is great!

So, be warned, this is a long post of artwork! I am posting my goal reaching layouts that I've completed in the last week. I just noticed that they're all old pics - I really haven't scrapped much of my girls lately....hmmmm, interesting.

Here is a layout of my Grandma and Grandpa's 50th wedding anniversary back in 1995 - oops, I just noticed that I forgot to add my journaling piece on the right page. They were married in 1945 and still together! I still remember, at this party, how my grandpa flipped his hat around and scooped my grandma up into a big kiss - that's the pic that's framed on the left page.

The flip book opens up to the pictures of some of the grandkids holding the Top Ten List.

I used Reflections for these two pages. Products Used: Caprice paper pack, Boutique Numbers, Card Commentary, Chocolate Mini Medleys, Chocolate Ribbon Rounds, Adorable stamp set, Because I Love You stamp set, Square Window Charm, Honey Sassy Strands, 6-pocket Photo Storage Page (cut up to create flip book), Classic Caps, All You Need stamp set (retired)

Here is a layout of our County Fair back in 1989. I added Hollyhock to tie the colors into me, but now I really wish I hadn't - oh, well!

The left page with the large picture of my brother and me, will open up using a TrueFit Folio, and inside will be these pages. I just can't get enough of these stitched circles - they're so much fun!

I used a PageMaps layout on each of these - the first set of pages is from a layout from the PageMaps Book and the other set is from April 2006 - it's just the same layout flipped. Products Used: Sarsaparilla paper pack, Homestead Alphabet, Fresh Shapes Dimensional Elements, Natural Hemp, Star Struck stamp set, Black Bitty Brads, Bigger Brads (my girls helped me use my Desert Sand Embossing Powder to make these brads match the page - they love using the tweezers and heat gun!)

And here is the page I completed last night - I really struggled finding the perfect title on this one, I debated leaving it just 'Cherish' or maybe 'Cherish the MomentS' or 'Cherish the simple moments' - I am still thinking about adding an "S" to the end of Moments - what do you think? This is my brother and I twenty years ago - wow, I can't believe it was that long ago!

I used a PageMaps layout from April 2008 for this one. Products Used: Blue Ribbon paper pack, various Dimensional Element letters, buttons, Moonstruck, Indian Corn Blue, and Sunflower Waxy Flax, Indian Corn Blue RicRac, Sans Alphabet, Calendar stamp set, Delightful Alphabet, White Daisy Grosgrain ribbon

Thanks for visiting my blog and thanks for all of the sweet comments - they really make my day.

Marjorie's Color Challenge #21

Here is the layout that I did for Marjorie's Color Challenge #21 - school was her inspiration for these primary colors and I just knew it would be perfect with this picture that Kaylee brought home on the last day of school - her class had T-shirts that they each signed. For privacy issues, I've blurred out the other kids faces - I only used Microsoft Paint to do it, if anyone knows a better looking way to do it, I would love to know!

I used a fun PageMaps layout from January 2007 for this one - I love the fun angle. Products Used: Cranberry CS, stamped with Spot On Background stamp set, Topiary CS crimped with paper crimper, Sunflower CS on Stampin Up! Chipboard star - stamped with Spot On Background stamp set, Essential Alphabet stamp set (for the letter K), Classic Caps stamp set (to spell out the rest of Kindergarten), Star Struck stamp set, Typewriter Keys stamp set (for the date), Cranberry Ribbon Rounds (retired), Sans alphabet, White RicRac ribbon, and coordinating Bigger Brads.

Thanks for looking!

Once Upon a Time...

...there was a little girl named Jena...

For some reason, I've really been in the mood to scrap some really OLD pictures! Here is what I've done in the last week...can you tell what my favorite animal is ;-) When I was little, apparently, I had my very own corral of imaginary horses. I had a cousin that I was very close to and we were always playing together when she was visiting - we still had our fights, though. One day for some reason, she let all my imaginary horses loose - I was devastated! My aunts and uncles will never let me forget that story.

I need to finish up the journaling on the first two, but I don't remember the horse's names - Mom, or Dad, can you help me out?

Products Used: Reflections, CTMH Wild Adventure paper pack and Stickease (retired), hemp, SU chipboard tag.

Products Used: Reflections, Cloud 9 Sorbet Villa paper, CTMH Vineyard Berry CS

I stamped the buckle on the back of the foil sheet - then I embossed the image, I think it turned out very cool! Here is a close-up of the buckle.

Products Used: Becky Higgins Sketches, Cranberry B&T (retired), Textured Chocolate CS, Colonial White CS, Lovely Buckles stamp set, Silver Foil Sheets, Calendar stamp set, Cobblestone alpha stamp set, Silver Conchos

This one is a little more recent - I still can't believe it was almost 10 years ago, though! I'm the one on the top row in the very middle.

Products Used: CTMH Silhouette paper pack, CTMH Black Brads, CTMH Just Blooms paper flowers, Boutique alpha stamp set, Classic Caps stamp set, SU tag punch

Thanks for looking!