LOAD212 - Day 29 - Perfect

The prompt for Lain Ehmann's Layout a Day challenge for Day 29 was - Once in a Blue Moon

Couldn't think of anything for this prompt that was scrapworthy, so I told a story I've been wanting to scrap for a long time, about not being thrilled with the pregnancy of my fourth child, my fears and slight depression, and then falling completely in love with this perfect little being.

Journaling Reads:

When I found out I was pregnant with you, I was not thrilled. Dad had been unemployed for seven months, the economy was in a terrible recession, our oldest child would be 14 when you were born and the sibling closest to you in age would be 6 when you were born...we were SO done with babies. I spent a lot of my pregnancy depressed...well, not clinically depressed, but definitely not thrilled. The doctor told me that because my "eggs were older" that I could do some testing to determine if you would have Down's Syndrome. But that information wouldn't have changed anything, we wouldn't have "done" anything about it. And then there were the worries that you, my fourth child, would have to be born by cesarean, when the others were not...

...And then you were born. And it wasn't a cesarean birth. As a matter of fact, it was the easiest labor I'd had out of all of them. From first contraction to delivery only took about two hours. And you were perfect. Your nose, your eyes, your lips, your fingers, your toes, the wrinkles in your skin, your ear lobes, everything about you was perfect. And I instantly fell in love. Completely and utterly in love. And I couldn't imagine my world with out you in it. You completed our family. You served a purpose none of us could ever have imagined we would need. You brought me, and the entire family, pure joy. It wasn't long before we fittingly started to call you Mr. Perfect.

Some observations about the process and the products used:

1. Stampin' Up patterned paper.



2. Clear acrylic letters from Heidi Swapp.



3. Ribbon from a dress...you know...the ribbons on the insides of garments to help hang the garment up, but if you don't cut the ribbons out, they will slip out the sleeve and everyone will see them? Well, I cut those ribbons out and put them in my craft stash.



4. I can not get enough of Picasa. From journaling on photos like in this layout to collages, it makes scrapbooking much more fun and easier to do.



5. Even though I did this layout two weeks ago, re-reading the journaling and typing it into this blog post had me in tears again. Love this little bugger.

And that's IT! I did it!! I scrapped EVERY DAY for 29 Days in a row!! AMAZING!!! And now to rest.

LOAD212 - Day 28 - tv

The prompt for Lain Ehmann's Layout a Day challenge for Day 28 was - Screens (TV, computer, video games, phone, etc. What are you watching, recording, playing, doing, etc.) I took the prompt in a little different direction...

Journaling Reads:

When we were little, my mom used to sit us on top of things and take our picture...coffee tables, dining tables, kitchen counters, and sometimes even the TV.

Some observations about the process and the products used:

1. Pretty quick page.


2. Love the Project Life journaling cards!


3. Another Stampin' Up patterned paper pack.


4. Imagine setting kids on top of a TV today to take a picture....not possible in our house with all of the flat screens! My how technology has changed!

LOAD212 - Day 27 - Pepper

The prompt for Lain Ehmann's Layout a Day challenge for Day 27 was - Animal Magnetism

This is a layout about my childhood cat, Pepper.

Journaling Reads:

We didn't have many pets when I was growing up, but we did have Pepper, the softest, fluffiest cat I'd ever seen. She was a stray that we sort of took in. She was an outside cat, but she had a litter box in the garage. And my parents fed her just enough to keep her hungry for the field mice. One winter she drank antifreeze and died behind the wood pile.

Some observations about the process and the products used:

1. This is a case of being exhausted from scrapping every day, and doing a layout because I "have" to, not because I "want" to. There's more to the story that could be told, but I guess this is enough.


2. However, I'm noticing that there is no date on this page. I need to go back and correct that.


3. Those buttons aren't aesthetically placed so much as they are strategically placed to cover a rip in the patterned paper.


4. Bling letters for the title are leftover letter stickers from Jordyn's Sweet Sixteen party. I think they juxtaposition well against the ruggedness of the paper.

LOAD212 - Day 26 - Awesome

The prompt for Lain Ehmann's Layout a Day challenge for Day 26 was - Girl Crush

Obviously, I went off prompt again today. I got up at 4:30 am today to drive to the other side of the state to watch my son compete in the wrestling elementary team state championship tournament. Returned home at 9:00 pm and made this photo collage and journaling while watching the Oscars. Phew. LONG DAY!

Journaling Reads:

Liam, if you could describe today using one word, what would it be? “AWESOME!”

1 Prior to the start of the match, Liam shakes hands with his first opponent of the day, pinning this Holt wrestler in the second period. 2 Liam warms up with teammate Alex Finney. 3 In solidarity with his Oxford wrestling brothers from elementary through high school, Liam dies his hair black for the state tournament weekend. 4 Coaches Curtis and Borg respectably and successfully argue with the referee over a scoring oversight in a key match between Matthew Curtis and his opponent from Holly. 5 In his second match of the day, Liam gets pinned by a tough competitor from Hartland. 6 Oxford coaches and wrestlers watch the action on the mat. 7 Oxford Elementary takes second place in the MYWAY Team State Championship, triumphing over Grand Blanc, Holt, and Holly, and falling to Hartland in the finals, out of a pool of ten schools.

Some observations about the process and the products used:

1. Photos taken and scrapped ON THE SAME DAY!?!?! Oh, yeah!


2. Picasa Photo collage. 'Nuff said.


3. Cardstock, Punches (arrow, scallop, word window), and journaling pen. Who needs fancy products to scrapbook?!?

LOAD212 - Day 25 - 790 page two

The prompt for Lain Ehmann's Layout a Day challenge for Day 25 was - I Feel like....

But, today, I decided to go back to Day 9's prompt which was Home Sweet Home. I knew I wanted to scrap about the process of our house being built by my dad, but wasn't ready to do it until I created yesterday's page (on the left). It just seemed a perfect fit to make a companion page (on the right). So, the right side is technically today's page.

Journaling on each photo reads:

1. (right page - top photo) - This is a picture of me and my mom at the construction site of our house in 1978. If you look closely, you can see that my mom is roasting a marshmallow. Proof that she's awesome.


2. (right page - bottom left photo) - This is me at age 5 and a half in 1978 while our house was being built. My dad in the background and my Uncle Hurley in the foreground laid the brick. I'm not sure why I don't have any shoes on.


3. (right page - bottom right photo) - My mom tells the story about how a pallet of bricks almost fell on me when our house was being built. I wonder if it happened right after this picture was taken?

Some observations about the process and the products used:

1. Crochet flowers are adorable. I think these are Dear Lizzy, but I'm not 100% sure.


2. This page came together so quickly. Love fast scrapping


3. When you put a large piece of cardstock on top of a larger piece of patterned paper, do you cut out the part of the patterned paper that is covered by the cardstock? I do. On this layout, I got about 5x7 of patterned paper from each side of the layout that can be used in another project. I'm thrifty like that.


4. Could you imagine chasing after three young kids in the middle of construction zone, keeping them out of harm's way, trying to entertain them in the middle of nowhere, with no power, no running water, braving the elements for months on end? Go, Mom!


5. My dad was an AMAZING man. Miss him.

LOAD212 - Day 24 - 790

The prompt for Lain Ehmann's Layout a Day challenge for Day 23 was - Numbers. The inspiration page was BEYOND adorable using all of the numbers associated with a baby's birth and putting it into Subway art format. It was gorgeous. Putting it on my to-do list for each of my kids. But what spoke to me first when I saw the prompt was "790". The address of the house I grew up in. Here are the rest of the numbers associated with this house, and my best first crack at subway art. Definitely room for improvement.

First Version:

But then I realized there were more numbers that needed to be told. Most importantly that my dad had built this house with his own TWO hands. But I also had to correct the date and I thought it'd be fun to add more details. So, I re-did the layout.

Second Version:

Some observations about the process and the products used:

1. In the re-do, I added journaling to the photo so that it was more clear who the picture was of (me) and where it was taken (in front of the mailbox in front of my house)


2. Stampin' Up patterned papers and ink used to ink the edges of the cardstock (I hadn't inked the edges of anything in a LONG time!)


3. I know that done is better than perfect, but even though I really liked version one, I absolutley LOVE version two.