Layouts to Share

Both the girlies are gone. Brent took Bailey home last night and Sammie came and got Miss Bella this morning. The house has been very, very quiet. I got the living room all straightened up and vacuumed and the kitchen is clean as well. Tomorrow I will finish up laundry.

I have some more scrapbook layouts to share.  The first one is from a sketch posted on Basic Grey's blog and is designed by Valerie Salmon.  I love her sketches so this one was an easy one for me.

 And here are more layouts based on the sketches from Lisa Day's class at Big Picture Classes called 28 Days of Sketches Round 2.  This is the layout I made from Day 5's sketch.

 A double page layout from Day 6's sketch.

 Day 7's sketch with some very old photos.

 And more old photos with Day 8's sketch.

It is great to be using up supplies and getting some older photos on layouts.  I have both Day 9 and Day 10 started and I will get them finished either tonight or tomorrow.

Hope the rest of your weekend is awesome!

 

Sharing Joy - The Girlies Way

I have realized once again that being a few months shy of 50 and having two active littles in the house exhausts me.   I love having the girlies here but after a few days of togetherness we all start to get stir crazy.  So, this morning we all got up, got dressed and headed to Goodwill.  Little did I know how a couple hours out of the house would refresh us all.  And in ways I never imaged.

A few years ago my word of the year was JOY.  I loved living that word.  I found joy in so many unexpected places.  Today my world is still filled with joy and my granddaughters bring so much of it into my life.  What I tend to forget is how much joy that can give others.  As I am walking through the aisles with Bella in the stroller and Bailey walking along side we can across a lady who started a conversation with Bailey.  Bailey is very friendly so she found out the lady's name and told her that Bella wasn't her sister but her cousin and shared their names and how old they are.  Carol told me she had 9 grandchildren aged 21 to 15 months.  We chatted for a few minutes and off we both went, me with Bella and Bailey both waving bye to Carol.  At the checkout two older women both wanted to wait on us, because of the girls.  When we were done checking out, the clerk didn't want us to leave as she was having some much fun the the girls.  Joy - I got filled by watching the interaction between my girlies and strangers - and the strangers got filled just from talking to the girls.  Amazing.

Here's a funny little story from last night.  I was sending Brent out for McDonald's and I asked Bailey what she wanted "a cheeseburger or chicken nuggets?"  She replied "a cheeseburger".  I asked her to ask Bella what she wanted and Bailey told me she didn't think she knew Bella's language.  I laughed and told her she was the best one to translate Bella's language since was the closest in age to her.  Very seriously, Bailey leaned down and asked "Bella, do you want chicken nuggets or a cheeseburger" and Bella answered with a baby babble.  Bailey looked up at me and said "Bella wants a cheeseburger, Nana!"  Love, love, love those girlies and those moments.

So as tired as I am and as messy as my house is, I treasure and cherish these moments.  The children of my children - the best gift of all.
 

Playing Mama

I have baby Bella with me this week. Mommy and Daddy went to the Keys to catch some lobsters and I get to enjoy this sweetie all week.

Having her here reminds me so much of raising my kiddos.  I was fortunate enough to stay home for 15 years with my kids.  I love puttering at home, taking care of babies and being a Mama (or a Nana).

I have some layouts to share that I completed a week or so ago.  With all the thundershowers we have been having I haven't been able to get photos of them, but here they are:

A single page layout of Bailey just having fun.

A double page layout a month after Bailey was born - August 2007.  My Aunt Ruth was visiting from Ohio and we got together a couple of times while she was here.

 And another double page layout featuring Bella.

I am taking a class at Big Picture Classes  - 28 Days of Sketches Round 2.  Sometimes all the motivation I need is a daily email reminding me to be creative.  Lisa's emails are even better because each day along with an email I get a sketch.  I am loving this class.  Here is Day 3 Sketch:

 And Day 4 Sketch:

Each day Lisa not only gives you a 12" x 12" sketch but an 8 1/2" x 11" sketch as well as a double page layout.  Awesome!

I am going to go and play with my grandbaby and then pick out some pictures for my Day 5 sketch.  Happy Monday!

Two Weeks

I cannot believe how bad my good intentions have been. I was planning on doing a blog post at least a few times a week and here it's been two weeks.

This morning I found our missing cordless phone.  I have one of those systems with one base phone and three cordless handsets.  One of the handsets was in the couch and has been for some time, but I found it this morning.

I am taking Lisa Day's class 28 Days of Sketch Round 2 at Big Picture Classes.  Each day you get a new sketch to play with.  She has 12" x 12", 8 1/2" x 11" and a double page sketch.  I will probably use mostly double page sketches as that is how I scrapbook.

Here is Day 1 sketch

And Day 2 sketch

And I have my photos picked out for Day 3 sketch.  I am usually drawn to the more layered and embellished scrapbook pages (think Shimelle Laine) but I am really enjoying the simplicity of these pages.  And any scrapbooking that is completed is good scrapbooking.

My job situation is changing - our Operations Manager is leaving and I am very sad.  He and I work really well together and I really like him as a person but I totally understand why he is leaving.  So, my boss has asked me to work full-time and take over some of his duties that are administrative.  I don't mind the new duties as I am always up for change but the extra hours might be difficult.  Right now I am working 32 hours with three afternoons off a week.  After next week I will be working 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. each day.  BUT the extra money will come in handy and I am getting a raise so can't complain about that.

I am keeping baby Bella next week while Brandon and Sammie go to the Keys.  I love having her and she is such a joy to have around.  Bailey is coming to visit part of that time as well.  I plan to take the girlies to the pool one day but other than that we have no big plans - just play and enjoy each other's company.

Well, I have lots to do before my girlies arrive so I am off to straighten up and vacuum.  Have a great Saturday and see you soon!
 

Another Rainy Saturday

So, with the weather being what is has been for the past few days - rainy - I haven't gotten a chance to take photos of the layouts I have finished recently.  Hopefully tomorrow I will find the time to get the photos taken.

Yesterday I got caught up in a book and read for five hours straight.  No crafting of any kind.

Today I had Miss Bella for a few hours so I played with her.  I am trying to put together some kind of weekly menu planner and worked on that a bit while she was here.  I had a headache from the weather so took a nap after she left and when I got up I sorted my completed pages.  The stack of pages on the bottom of the photo are 2007 pages and each stack is the next year up through 2012.  The stack not in line is older pages than 2007 and pages that have no date on them.  I want to get each years stack in chronological order and get then in albums.  They were taking up a good deal of space in my craft area.

Dave took me to dinner at Watermark Grille which is one of my favorite restaurants.  Afterwards he took me to JoAnne's.  I want to make a t-shirt quilt and needed some fusible web.  I needed a 36" robe zipper in black but they didn't have that.  I got a 1 3/4" circle punch for a mini album I am working on.  Hopefully, tomorrow I will be able to get a few crafty things done.

Have a great rest of the weekend.

Balance of June Layouts

I was on a roll in June - I scrapbooked 49 pages.  That must be why my house looks the way it does.  No, Dave has been working later in the evening and when you leave me alone - I craft!

Here are two pages from Close to My Heart's Tresa Black's 10-Page Scrapbook Workshop.  These photos are of Bailey and her Daddy Luke.

I borrowed the girlies one weekend and surprised my Mom and Dad.  They hadn't met Baby Bella yet so they spent lots of time getting to know that sweet baby.  All four pages are older sketches from Got Sketch classes.

A couple more pages from Close to My Heart of my granddaughter Bailey.

What are your Fourth of July plans?  Mine is to stay home and enjoy my day off.  Have a safe holiday!

Sewing

So, on Friday, I set up my sewing machine on the dining room table and got working on some mending and other sewing stuff that I wanted to do.  It has been a long, long time since I had my sewing machine out.
 

I repaired two of my own shirts and one of Brent's.

And sewed this cute summer black and pink floral dress.  Now don't get too excited - all I had to do was sew a seam and make the straps.  I purchased the fabric at JoAnne's and it had the shirring at the top and even the hem was done.  Super quick, super easy and quite pretty.

And this dress that doesn't look like much on the hanger but is so cute on.  I got the idea off Pinterest here and it really is a 30 minute project.  A couple of seams, a couple of cuts and viola you have a dress.  I am looking for a nice, wide silver belt to go with it.

I have a few more items on the to repair rack - two of Bailey's Snow White dresses need fixing.  I have two plain t-shirts (one black, one white) that I was going to make bolero jackets from but I already bought bolero jackets.  I have a gorgeous long leopard print robe that I need to replace the zipper.  And a cute long, black and white dress that the lining needs to be replaced.  I also want to make a quilt out of my country concert t-shirts.

Anyone need any mending done?  My sewing machine is still out!  Happy Monday!
 

Monthly Roundup June 2012

 MONTHLY ROUNDUP June 2012

1. What books and/or magazines did I read this month?

Second Chance by Jane Green

The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands by Dr. Laura Schleshinger

Aunt Erma’s Cope Book by Erma Bombeck

Courting Trouble by Lisa Scottoline

Bloom by Kelle Hampton

Moment of Truth by Lisa Scottoline

2. What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?

Larry Crowne                                                

Weeds Season 7, Episodes 1-2

Criminal Minds Season 2, Episodes 1-8       

Contraband

A Little Bit of Heaven                                               

What’s Your Number?

Sundays at Tiffany’s                                     

Man on a Ledge

I Don’t Know How She Does It                     

The Descendants

This Means War                                            

One for the Money

The Vow                                                        

Horrible Bosses

3. What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?

Baby Bella spend a night with us and it’s always fun to have her around.

Brent moved back in and it is wonderful to have my baby under my roof.  I like seeing that he eats and sleeps regularly and in general, gets taken care of.  He is working for Roland at the Pizzeria.  He is also super excited to be getting a car.

Dave and I went to Ft. Lauderdale to see Queen Extravaganza at Hard Rock.  We stayed in a Marriott Courtyard and I got to walk through the bead show there.  We ate dinner at Smokey Bones, played some slots and walked around the Swap Shop for an hour or so.  We had a great, relaxing weekend.

4. What gifts did I give and/or receive?

For Father’s Day I got my Dad a card and a gift card for a restaurant.

5. What special or unusual purchases did I make?

Bought some border punches and other miscellaneous scrapbook supplies at Micheal’s and JoAnne’s.  Went to Ross and got five new long dresses, an awesome pair of black sandles and a white bolero jacket.

6. What illnesses or health concerns did I have?

Nothing major.

7. What were my accomplishments this month?

Completed 49 paper scrapbook pages.

8. What were my disappointments this month?

No major disappointments.

9. How did I do on my goals for the month? (Or any current short or long term goals)

I did more cooking at home this month and tried a couple of new recipes.  I am still not menu planning but at least I am working towards that goal.

I also did more scrapbooking this month – I am really excited to be paper scrapping again.  I love the feel and smell of paper and all the pretties that go with it.

10. Anything else noteworthy to include?

Brandon is now working at Storm Force as the Warehouse Guy.