Love Joy Peace

Owen's last day of preschool was last week. For their end of year concert, the theme was Fruits of the Spirit. Which, (in case you don't know) are: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control (it's not against the law, you can grow them in your own back yard).

Anyway, in keeping with that theme, I decided to make Fruits of the Spirit candles for each of the teachers. Unfortunately, all I could fit onto these short candles were "Love, Joy, Peace". So, I included "Galatians 5:22-23", the verses in the Bible that talk about the Fruits of the Spirit.

It was a fun, easy gift and I hope they liked them. I wasn't there to assess their reactions, but Kevin was and he said that they loved them. I asked him if they "got it" that they were Fruits of the Spirit candles, and he said Oh Yes! And that one teacher in particular was just gushing over that fact. :)

Bonnie love

I would have posted this layout last night, but I've been having issues with my external hard drive (where ALL of my pictures and videos are stored, and are NOT backed up any where else....I should probably look into backing them up, eh?) But I finally got it to work and was able to get this uploaded.

Anyway, last Thursday we were heading home from Jordyn's Spring choir concert when my dad asked her if she knew that when he was in 8th grade, he had a solo in his Spring concert. He then proceeded to sing us the song. "I'll go home with Bonny Jean". He still knew every word! No doubt because he had sung it to my mom, BonnIE JUNE, several times over the years.

At that moment, I thought - "I have GOT to get this on video!"

So, on Mother's Day, I asked my dad to sing the song to my mom as I recorded it. He acted a bit shy and hesitant, but I think he was flattered that I asked him to do it...even if it meant we had to mute the Tigers game on the tv.

Then I created a scrapbook page about it:

Bonnie love:

Behind the photo of my mom and dad is a CD on which the .mpg file of him singing this can be found. So, future generations will be able to watch my dad sing this song to my mom. That is, IF this media is still available and there are still machines around that will play it! Imagine if you stumbled upon a beta tape from your parents - how would you play it today? But, I guess my grandkids' grandkids will have to figure that out themselves. I've preserved the memory the best way I know how.

Some observations on the process and the products used:

1. Label shaped paper purchased at the Mega Meet (woo hoo! I'm using the things I bought!!) is from My Mind's Eye.


2. Heidi Swapp ghost sticker "love" (also purchased at Mega Meet)


3. I used white rub on letters for the word "Bonnie" (left over from the Lisa Bearnson All About Me kit - the kit that keeps going and going and going and going!)


4. Heidi Swapp date stamp (I've always wanted one of these, and LOOK! I've already used it twice now. Quite a bargain for $2.99 - also from the Mega Meet)


5. I really like the Kraft colored cardstock. Must get some more of this.


6. I am enormously blessed to have two parents that are still so much in love.

And you can watch him sing it here if you so choose. It's saccharine sweet.

ps - If at any time during this video you hear some off-key humming, that's my mom, who God love her, can not carry a tune to save her life!! Love you mom!!

Lessons on Motherhood from my Mom

I read a bazillion scrapbook / artsy type blogs. And several weeks ago, I got this idea for a mother's day album and fell in love with it. I wish I could remember what blog I saw it on so that I could give props to the idea originator, but, like I said, I read a bazillion blogs and tried to re-find it, but gave up after ten minutes.

Anyhow, the idea was to show two pictures, on of your mom and you as a child, and the other picture of you and your child - doing a similar activity or at a similar event.

I was able to put together this album using 2 sheets of 12x12 cardstock, 2 sheets of 8 1/2 x 11 cardstock, scraps from Owen's 5th Birthday layout, a couple of rings, and some lengths of different ribbon. Easy Peasy.

I love love love the way this album turned out.

Looking back on these photos, I realized a couple of things.

• My mom was a very pretty young mother.
• Owen looks SO much like me.
• I look SO much like my mom.

Happy Mother's Day!

this is why i 'crapbook

Being at the Mega Meet all day yesterday had me wanting to scrapbook like crazy. So, tonight, I put some of my Mega Meet purchases to use.

this is why i 'crapbook:

Observations about the process and the products used:

1. Mega Meet products used:
   ~"Remember" silhouette on lower left photo
   ~Brown felt fusion swirls
   ~Heidi Swapp date stamp (another stellar deal!)
2. Tried and true products used:
   ~See through ruler
   ~Chipboard alphas
   ~Plain cardstock (there's not even any patterned paper on this layout! *gasp*)
   ~White gel pen (Amy & Tina - you ladies are going to love them!)
3. The green photo corners were punched from scrap paper a long time ago. My intent was to punch various shapes out of small scraps of paper and store them for future use. Today was the first time to cash in on that "future use" idea.
4. The top right photo makes me want to reach into the picture and tickle Owen's feet!

Mega Meet Haul

WOW! My first time ever to the Great Lakes Mega Meet far surpassed my expectations! I had heard great things about it from Amy and Kendrea the last couple of years, and I was worried that I was making it out to be better in my head than what it would actually be in real life.

I needn't have worried as you can see from my haul below:

I had a couple of objectives for the day:

• Chipboard
• The label shape (see striped paper in the lower left corner of the photo)
• Arrows & brackets
• Kraft colored cardstock

I specifically told Amy and Tina that I did NOT need patterned paper since I've got patterned paper coming out of my ears at home. Which is funny, because both of them were on patterned paper missions. Let me just tell ya, scrappers are drawn to patterned paper like moths to a flame, like rubberneckers to a bad accident, like Bella to Edward. It's such a strong attraction that it takes an enormous amount of restraint not to go hogwild on patterned paper. And besides the few sheets of label shaped and scallop shaped papers, I did not get any! I mean, I looked and fondled and drooled over TONS of it, but I did not BUY any. That, people, is uh-MAY-zing!

So, with our missions in mind, we set out on the hunt.

Of course I bought something from the VERY first booth that we went to, even though we said that we wouldn't do that. I'd dare say it was one of my best value purchases of the day. It was a sheet of license-plate looking alpha stickers. 50 cents per sheet...I got two sheets (they vary slightly). You can NEVER have enough Alphas, imo.

I think my next purchases were at the Heidi Swapp booth. OK, let me just tell you, I think I could have spent my ENTIRE budget at Heidi Swapp. The deals were SCRAPTABULOUS! One of the best was the pink storage box with TEN sheets of silhouette stickers in it for $5!! FIVE BUCKS! What a bargain. Seriously, if my budget would have been bigger, I would have bought 10 of those boxes as gifts. The other great deal in her booth was the ghost alphas! I got 6 packages of ghost alphas. Like I said, you can never have enough alphas. Next year, I think I'll get one of her mystery bags - I've got to imagine that everything in them is stellar!

The next item on my list of "best value of the day" were the 12x12 chipboard packs for $6. We saw these EXACT chipboard sets the following day at Archivers for $15!! Again, I should have scooped up a bunch more, but funds were ltd.

It took a while but I eventually found my label shaped paper. Ideally, I would have liked a template, but getting the paper was OK, too. Even though I was not on a paper mission, I heard afterwards that there was a booth with 10 cent 12x12 sheets and I kicked myself for missing it. That's just a steal!!

Other fun finds were the felt fusion borders for a buck a piece. These were at the Mega Meet's dollar booth. Because everything in there was a dollar! Go figure!

One of the best parts of the day was show and tell back at the hotel room. Our scrap stuff, people! ***geesh*** Get your minds out of the gutter.

I won't list every.single.item that I purchased, but trust me ... it was all GREAT stuff.

I can not WAIT until next year. However, I'm going to use these lessons learned:

1. You absolutely have to bring a tote bag and 12x12 plastic envelope/protector. (Thanks Amy & Kendrea for the tip!)
2. Bringing your own snacks (granola bars, apple, v-8) is a great idea (thanks Heather for the tip!) Spending less money on food means that there's more cash for my scrap stash.
3. Apparently there were some deals we missed on Thursday. Consider going on Thursday instead of Friday next year.
4. Also, consider getting a two day pass next year. During show and tell we realized that were items some of us got that others missed out on. And there was a bit of realizing we should have gotten more of this or more of that. So, a two day pass would let you go back and get all of things you missed out on the first day.
5. Bring pre-printed labels to make entering contests easier. I think I only entered 2 contests because I didn't want to take the time to fill out my information. a.k.a. I'm lazy.
6. Bigger budget next year. MUCH bigger.

What more can I say? It was a b-l-a-s-t!!

Challenge 14a - BIVE

One of my goals with the kids' birthday books was to scrap their current birthday immediately and add it to their album. I'd say within two weeks qualifies as "immediately", wouldn't you?

I used the ScRap SiStaZ Challenge 14a as my inspiration.

BIVE - double:


BIVE - left:


BIVE - right:



BIVE - hidden journaling card:

Some observations about the process and products uses.

1. I did not take very many pictures at Owen's non-party birthday party.
2. We were in the middle of the party when the hurricane/tornado blew through.
3. I journaled about the "storm", the party, the recession cake, the after party, and the fact that Owen still pronounces his f's like b's so when we asked him how old he was, he said "Bive". Hence the title of the layout.
4. Stampin' Up coordinating patterned papers. Part of this year's Sale-a-bration. Very nice kit.
5. Green Stickles were used to jazz up the number 5.
6. The number 5 was cut with a combination of the Cricut (Don Juan), and my trusty fine tip scissors. For whatever reason, the Cricut didn't cut through the paper all the way. SURELY it's not time for a new blade. Possibly a new mat, but not a new blade! I haven't used the Cricut THAT much in the five months that I've had it. How long do your Cricut blades last?
7. A LOT of pop-dots were used in the making of this layout.

Inspiration Layout: