Monday, May 28, 2012

Steampunk Ladies

Originally it was going to be just Alicia and I going to Phoenix ComiCon, but we ended up with a group meeting to go. Sam, Terri, and Melissa joined us, as did Kristin, David and Jasmine. We had a fabulous time, and even got our Steampunk on a bit!

Here's a page I did of the four of us from the end of the day-
Kit: Scientific Romance by SKrapper Digitals
Font:Viner Hand ITC

More pages to follow, but this one I submitted for the Gals in my Life contest at Digital Scrapper! I'm so glad, and so blessed to have these women in my life!

Sunday, May 20, 2012

May Progressive Scrap

Over at theStudio every month we get to do a Progressive Scrap. For seven days we get bits from the monthly Mega kit Collab and directions on how to place the items.

This month was a graduation themed kit, but Min (our wonderful leader) didn't want to box us in to HAVING to use graduation photos. So, for six of the seven days we go pieces that were all neutral grays. One day we got to pick if we wanted Blue, Orange, Yellow, or Red. We each got a flower, paper, and ribbon in our color. We were also allowed to recolor any elements.

So here's what I came up with!
The black and white and blue theme worked well with some of my favorite pics of Brian as a toddler.
If you are interested in the quick page I made from this, you can get it here.

Progressive Scrap week is my favorite week of the month! :)

Sunday, May 13, 2012

A Mother's Love

"Get your head out of the clouds", "There are no magic wands", these are things I heard often as a child, and even into my college years. I was a daydreamer, the kid who'd rather read than play on the playground. Nothing wrong with that, unless I'm reading or dreaming when I should be doing something else. Like chores, or homework, or whatever it was that I told Mom I'd have done before she got home.

I'm sure I frustrated her, and I remember being resentful and swearing to myself that I'd NEVER say those words to MY kids! I had forgotten that promise to myself until the first time I caught myself telling Brian to get HIS head out of the clouds!

Funny how moms tend to know what's best for their kids...

Anyway, looking back, I can see the lengths Mom went to to make sure I was well grounded and still able to dream. The time and effort and support that went into nurturing my passions; music, theater, writing, sending me to camp every year to ride horses, and the list goes on.

In my teen aged petulance, I only saw myself be squashed by those words, I didn't realize that if I wanted to really fly I'd need to be able to see where I was going!

So when Digital Scrapper had a challenge titled: Mom Always Said, I knew I had to scrap this:
Thanks Mom, for teaching me to stay grounded and still reach for those stars! I love you!

Stephen & Deborah's Wedding

I wasn't able to be at their wedding last October, but Mom sent me copies of the pictures she took. I finally got them narrowed down to a few pages worth and got them scrapped~



(and now 2011 is officially DONE!)

It's all about the Love

It's Mother's Day, and the readings at Mass today were all about Love. They were some of the same readings we did for Bible study last week.

Remain in My Love, and Love one another. Two commands that are really one and the same. We remain in God's Love WHEN we Love one another.

Love. Not an emotion, Love is a verb. It requires action on our part. Especially to those for whom we don't FEEL Love.

Good things to keep in mind today, and always.

Oh, and Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful moms in my life!

Saturday, May 12, 2012

A DIY Easter!

Easter weekend we began our second DIY project of the year, a new chalkboard at the top of the steps. Aaryk had made one from plywood, but it was too rough to write on well. We decided to paint it right on the wall this time, with some kind of border around it. While at the Lowe's to get the paint, we saw magnetic primer and thought that would be a fun idea, a magnetic chalkboard!

So we began the night before I'm hosting Easter dinner with all the family (including my daughter-in-law's parents from Canada!) by sanding down the wall...leaving a thick coating of paint dust ALL OVER MY HOUSE!!

I finally couldn't take it anymore and went to the store. I was furious and overreacting and just had to get away from the dust. Fortunately, by the time I got back, Aaryk had finished and even cleaned up the living room!

Next up was the primer. Well, with magnetic primer you have to mix and mix and mix until it's an even consistency and that's not easy with all of the metal bits in it. Aaryk had finally given up on doing it by hand and we decided to take it to Lowe's after Church to get it shaken. He taps the lid back on, and then I hear this horrible sound as he trips on the tarp on the stairs and falls down the steps!

He wasn't injured (not much more than his pride anyway), but the primer came had come open in flight. There was primer splattered all over the walls and carpet. We spent the rest of the evening cleaning up the mess! We did learn that auto upholstery cleaner does the best job at getting the stuff out of the carpet, better than pet stain remover or Resolve. It was good stuff!

So, Easter morning we get up, go to the sunrise service at St. Thomas Aquinas (and it was beautiful, if more than a little chilly), and then get the primer shook and back to work. Several coats of primer later we called it a day to let it dry and air out the house before company.

What an adventure! We've since gotten the chalkboard paint on, but no border yet. We're of two minds on whether to paint a border, or trim it out in wood like a real chalkboard. But it is fun to write on now!

Easter dinner was wonderful too, we had a great time and I enjoyed getting to chat with Share's folks!

Monday, May 7, 2012

Sisters in the Spirit

I am so fortunate to have this group of ladies in my life. We're doing a bible study on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, and it's being an amazing journey!

On Palm Sunday Kristin was in town and so four out of the five of us were actually in the same room for study. Usually, we have one or two that join us remotely (isn't the internet wonderful?!). It was a great day, and here's a pic of the four of us!

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Happy Birthday! ;)

It's Stuff to Scraps 3rd birthday, so many of their challenges are birthday themed.
Here's one I did today from a lonnngggg time ago!
My first birthday! I may not remember the day, but I remember that house!

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Ghost of Easter Past

I used the May 'Use it or Lose it' freebie from Stuff to Scrap for this page from 1974-
I just wish I could remember how Mom broke her leg!  When I get a hold of her and find out, I'll update here! ;)

From her comment on Facebook- "That first year while we were living on Roosevelt Rd there was an accident a few houses down and we went to see if they needed help. I stumbled in a frozen rut. Thought it was a sprain two days later they confirmed it was a hairline fracture. That still meant a cast and on crutches. I had forgotten that the cast matched my Easter outfit. lol"

One more from March!

Sometimes, the pics that I take 'just because' can be so hard to scrap! We'd taken the kids out to eat, and I snapped this shot of them outside the restaurant. It was such a nice picture of the two of them, but I've spent weeks trying to figure out how I wanted to scrap it.

Well, today is iNSD (interNational Scrapbook Day), and the wonderful folks over at The Digichick had a FB Blog Hop. The collab kit was called, A Family Story, and it was perfect for this photo-
I LOVE his hat!