Family Yearbook (continued)

Happy Monday!  Here are the photos I couldn't load last night... looking back, I'm appalled at teh horrible lighting and obvious arm shadows but it was late & I was tired.  I guess I'm lucky I got it posted at all.  If you can't tell, I'm a teensy bit of a perfectionist so funky pictures drive me insane...and that's the perfect segweay to introduce the next crop of family yearbook layouts (and their photo imperfections lol):

Here's June...summer time fun & all!  I ran out of white cardstock (major faux pas) but I used my Kiwi Lane templates to hold the design.  I love these because I was able to play around with the alternating looks of a single 5x7 or 4 4x6s, without having to cut a thing!

A close up of the embellishment detail

I spruced up November with a glitter mat, I like the contrast against the orange patterend paper.  Looking back, I should have used pop dots for Turkey Lurkey there on the right but, oh well... I'm trying to get past perfectionism, right?  Next time...

This sticker cam in the kit, for some reason there was an abundance of Thanksgiving embellishments.

This was a leftover piece of bling from another project.  I wasn't crazy about the weird, zig-zag lightening bolt design so I trimmed it down to manipulate the shape a bit.  I learned that trick from an awesome Prima rep at the scrapbook expo. Thanks Rebecca! :)

So, if you like the templates in the June layout, they're available from Kiwi Lane Designs.  Those ladies are awesome & I have to admit, I really get a lot of use out of the photo templates.  I haven't been as dilligent with the other designs, for shapes I tend to use my cricut and the borders are tempramental to say the least.  The gallery on their website is awesome though so, if that's your style, work it!  They have lots of sales & coupon codes so joining their mailing list first is a great way to try something new without spending a lot. -t.

Holy Scrap!

I've just come off a FULL day of scrapping, I'm talking 12hrs here! I think that's a record for me... Despite endless high calorie snacks calling my name, I actually managed to get a lot done.  I want to document 2011 by taking at least one great photo each month.  I figured I'd be more likely to follow through with that if I had somewhere ready & waiting so...the family yearbook was born. I'll likely do one page layouts & either use the opposite side to journal or fill with other awesome pics, should those come along. ;)  Mainly, I want to get the hard part out of the way & start snapping photos.  I used a K & Company all year kit purchased at Michael's- I tried really hard to stick to what they gave me but some of the pieces were hideous.  To make it worse, there was NO solid cardstock & some months had no embellishments at all... now I know why it was on sale.  But I'm not one to complain (much), I made it do what it do & I feel like it came out well, all things considered.  So here's a look at the months I managed to finish today...

For February, I took advantage of those cute doilies that Michael's has in the dollar bin right now.  I cut the borders and tried something different...

Yes, March is extremely boring but I'm going to jazz it up a bit- I promise.  Maybe I'll look for a cute stamp to add along the white part, this is where it would come in handy to know how to doodle.

Insert Easter Bunny photo here lol...

Here's May, I love the Springtime embellishments that came in the kit.  I anticipate taking a photo with each of my daughters to place in the 4x6 slots... so often it's all of us together so it'll be something different to have solo pics.

For some reason, the other photos are not loading so I'll have to give you November another time... it's late & I'm scrapped out! -t.

Sunday Funday!

Yay progress! A 2 page layout to celebrate our delayed Christmas gift exchange...we were snowed in on the east coast & didn't get home as planned.  My kiddos were great & surprisingly patient considering they had to wait until two days later to open gifts.  I still need a title so suggestions are welcome!

Friday Night Fruits...

Here's the page I finished for my MIL on Friday night:

I left room for her to journal & add her memories.  This is her family but the funniest part is-- she's not in it!  Apparently, she was sleeping at the time & no one wanted to wake her.  Too funny...

Here's a little more detail of my favorite part.  I think I'm going through a flower phase right now...

 



omg... I've crossed the divide!

The digital divide, that is. :)  Here I am in the blogosphere.  I feel so Bravo TV, it's kind of real housewife-ish to be documenting my life online, but this is mainly an outlet for my scrapbooking delight.  I'm a newbie, still trying to gather my wits & explore my own personal style so this will be a fun place that I can pass that on to you!  Along the way, I'll likely yap about my life: quintessential suburbia in what we've dubbed 'Pair-a-dice.'  Two kids, two dogs & two chatty birds.  I work too much and have too little time to do my favorite things: working out & sleeping.  (Yes, sleeping IS an enjoyable activity, often overlooked but great nonetheless!)  Friday is my 2nd favorite day of the week- not because I'm off work the next day (I'm not) but because it just makes me HAPPY that the main work week is done.  My usual schedule is packed with full time work, grad school, an internship, and a family that constantly needs SOMETHING.  I sneak in crafting on Friday nights & usually manage to relax on Sundays (my favorite day of the week) before the madness starts over again.

So...enough about me...I'll chat a little bit about what I've been working on tonight: Christmas pages.  Yeah, I'm WAY behind, but I figure it's almost like being ahead for next year at this point.  Besides, by the time I work my way up to Valentine's day, everything will be on clearance & that's never bad! ;)  I was inspired by an old site I found today, ScrapJazz.  It's from 2008 I think, but they have a huge assortment of step by step tutorials that I love for inspiration.  I'm a bad pupil, I never re-create the sketch or design exactly as I probably should, but I guess it makes my design my own (kind of) and avoids the super obvious look of plagiarism.  Anyhow, that's what I'll be working on tonight so, in the off chance I actually have time to finish, I will update you on my progress.

Happy Scrapping! -t.