LOAD 212 Day 1 - Corned Beef and Cabbage

How crazy can I be? I signed up for Lain Ehmann's Lay Out A Day challenge in which we are given a prompt each day for the entire month of February, and I am supposed to scrapbook one layout per day for the next 29 days. Um, I haven't created more than a half dozen layouts in all of 2011, and I signed up to create ONE per DAY for all of Feb?!?




Yep, certifiably insane.




At least I completed Day 1's assignment: A Matter of Taste. The prompt was to scrapbook about something food related. And I chose to record this story:


Journaling reads:

As St. Patrick’s Day, 2011 approached, my heart was heavy. This would be the first St. Patrick’s Day where I wouldn’t be able to call my dad and ask him to make some corned beef and cabbage for me as I had done for so many years in the past. Having lost a parent herself, Mair knew how hard this first year without him would be. To boost my spirits, she offered to throw a St. Patrick’s Day EVE party, complete with corned beef and cabbage. Look at the joy in her face as she stirs the pot! She is a fabulous cook, a self-taught chef, and an amaaaaazing hostess. The corned beef and cabbage (plus potatoes) were out of this world! She told me later that night that she felt Bennie’s presence as she prepared the meal through out the day. I could truly feel his love and warmth shining through the food. Being surrounded by this compassionate crowd and the ultimate comfort food (Hello! Guinness chocolate cupcakes, I love you!), made the loss of my dad easier to bear on this first St. Paddy’s without him here. Thank you Laura, Mair, Shelley, and Amy for lifting me up with your food and bevvies. 3/16/11

It's not a perfect layout, but it's DONE!

ScRaP SiStaZ Challenge 21 - I heart you

WOW! I can't believe it's been almost TWO YEARS since our last ScRap SisTaZ challenge was posted!! And it's been 18 MONTHS since I scrapped and posted a page. WOW!

(Hey, I started and ended that paragraph with the same word!)

I am THRILLED that Tina posted Challenge 21 to get us going again!! Thanks, Tina.
Let me just say that when I saw the inspiration page I thought, GREAT! Now this looks like one of those 30 minute pages Lain Ehmann talks about. One photo. Couple strips of journaling. A splash of buttons. Nothing really elaborate. So, heck, why don't I do TWO lay outs at ONCE?!?

Five hours later (or more), and here they are.

I heart Jordyn:

Journaling Reads: Jordyn – You call Facebook your “happy place”. It truly is a reflection of the joyful, positive young woman that you are. You are wise beyond your 15 years. The proof is in the status updates…misspellings & all: Be yourself! (9/18/11) * Smile... Pass it on! (9/16/11) * Lifes to good and short to live your life unhappy... :) :) :) (9/12/11) * The grass is always greener on the otherside.... But you still have to mow both sides. :) (8/21/11) * Gunna be a good life :) (7/11/11) * I love the people who make me smile when they dont even try :) :) :) (6/28/11) * … If you have time to worry about the bad things, then you have just enough time to look at the good side of things :) (6/16/11) * You only live once... So live your life tothe fullest :) Dont waste it :) (5/24/11) * Rainbow! (8/21/11) *

I heart my Dad:

Journaling Reads: It’s hard to believe I’ll never hear your voice again. On the days when missing you hits me harder than others, I listen to hymns and I instantly feel your presence. Hearing those southern gospels makes me feel as if I’m nine years old again, at a church revival with you standing next to me in the pew, my arm intertwined with yours, and my head resting against your shoulder. I close my eyes and I can almost hear your smooth alto voice rising up in earnest praise and worship. The tears flow. It Is Well, In the Garden, The Old Rugged Cross, How Great Thou Art, Are You Washed in the Blood, to name a few. These songs comfort me and help me to realize that your voice will always be with me.

Some observations about the process and the products used:

1. 
   
   I actually like the 8 1/2 x 11 format.


2. 
   
   I found this size/shape photo difficult to work with. A very large square. What do you do, print an 8x10 and trim down? Print a 5x7? But if you print a 5x7 then if you trim anything, you're trimming off part of the person (if it's a head shot). Do you go to Picasa and print from there? I don't know, it was hard for me.


3. 
   
   Forgive the picture of each layout, they are the EXACT same papers, but somehow the pics look different. Colors are better represented in Jordyn's layout.


4. 
   
   My ATG tape gun runner was NOT working well for me. Either I forgot how to use it, or Big Red was mad at me for staying away for so long.


5. 
   
   Scrapping in my newly reorganized office was FABULOUS! I love that I know where everything is and that it is all labeled so nicely. (pictures eventually)


6. 
   
   It's not the easiest to scrap through tears. But, it was cathartic and I'm glad I did it.

Inspiration Layout:

ScRaP SiStaZ Challenge 5a - Turning Fourteen

I still haven't given up on completing all of last year's ScRaP SiStaZ challenges. I recently completed Challenge 5a and I want to complete them all before Tina starts posting more challenges (which I'm guessing will be sometime after she finishes her Master's). In finishing this challenge, I also completed another layout for Jordyn's (still sparsely populated) birthday album. This is one of two layouts that I plan to complete to document her fourteenth birthday. Next on my list is her 14th birthday party with her friends. I just need to find a good inspiration layout to guide me through!

Turning Fourteen - Double:

Turning Fourteen - Left:

Turning Fourteen - Right:

Some observations about the process and the products used:

1. Inspiration was 8 1/2 x 11, I tweaked it to a 12 x 12 format.
2. I also tweaked the topic from Meeting Santa to Turning Fourteen. I'm not ready to tackle my kids' Santa photos yet. It's on my long list of projects that I plan to get around to some day....like when I've cloned myself four times over and when I no longer have a demanding career.
3. I've had these pictures printed since early January, with this layout in mind. I finally put the layout together in late February and am just now getting around to sharing it here on my blog. I might not move as quickly as I did last year, but at least I'm still moving.
4. Love how the orange and red patterned papers pick up the orange in Jordyn's shirt and the red poinsettias in the background at the restaurant. I also love coordinating patterned papers from a paper stack, which in this case are from DCWV.
5. I'm comfortable with hybrid-digi scrapping (meaning I journal and make titles on my computer). I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to learn how to do a fully digital layout. Maybe I'll make time on my maternity leave to figure this out. (Kendrea, here I come! Will you teach me??)
6. I was having a frumpy day, so excuse the hat and baggy sweater (which even now, at almost full term in my pregnancy would still be baggy on me!) But look at Jordyn, isn't she just gorgeous?? Yes, I'm biased. That's my job.

Inspiration Layout:

2009 Shellnut Thanksgiving Album

WOW! By this time last year I had created a dozen layouts and written nearly two dozen posts on this blog!! And here it is March 1st and this is my FIRST entry for 2010!! Man, have I been slacking.

However, in the last six weeks of my pregnancy, I'm going to try and scrap and post as much as is comfortable for me to do so. (And as much as my Monday-Thursday single motherhood schedule allows!)

I actually finished this Thanksgiving album back in January. Yes, it sat on my scrap table in a state of partial completion for nearly the entire month, much longer than I ever like to let a project sit. But, in the end, I got it finished, the memories are captured, and that's what counts.

It documents the Thanksgiving celebration that we had with my side of the family this past year (I still have to print pictures and make the album for the Thanksgiving we shared with Kevin's family!! It's on the to-do list.) We celebrated at my sister's house, and it was really weird not having my parents there with us. They're officially snowbirds now.

This album flips kind of like a perpetual calendar. And there are several "little" squares in between each page that has each person's thankful thoughts on them so that we can pull it out next Thanksgiving and be reminded of what everyone was thankful for in 2009.

Front Cover

First & Second Pages (My sister's family)

Third & Fourth Pages (My brother's family)

Fifth & Sixth Pages (My family)

Seventh & Eighth Pages (My cousin and her husband)

Back Cover

Happy Birthday - make a wish!

So, I'm working on Jordyn's birthday album right now. I only have about 5 weeks until her 14th birthday. And so far, I've scrapped 11, 12, & 13. And now 3. Four birthdays down, nine to go!

Happy Birthday - Make a Wish! (double):

Happy Birthday - Make a Wish! (left):

Happy Birthday - Make a Wish! (right):

Some observations on the process and the products used:

1. Locating pictures for Jordyn's birthday, pre-digital era, is no easy task. Bad momma, bad momma. I've located 1, 2, & 4. But somehow I need to locate birthdays 5-10. EEKS! I only have 5 weeks left to do this and I can't let her down!
2. Working with 4x6 photos is not how I like to scrap. Especially photos that don't necessarily have the best composition. I like printing photos in whatever size I want so that I can best tell the story. So, for this layout I circle punched the photos to crop out much of the background noise.
3. I didn't work from a sketch, and OY! Let me tell you, I MUCH prefer having a sketch or inspiration layout. But, that's OK. The memory has been captured.
4. Not one of the best designed layouts, but look at how cute 3 year old Jordyn was!

Wish me luck on the other layouts!! I'm gonna need it.

Challenge 18 - brothers brothers brothers

This was a fun challenge layout to do! ScRap SiStaZ Challenge 18. I really like the design.

brothers brothers brothers Double:

brothers brothers brothers Left:

brothers brothers brothers Right:

Some observations about the process and the products used:

1. I have TONS of pictures of the boys together, and I store them in a folder entitled "brothers". Imagine that. Most of the really good pictures of them, though, are horizontal shots rather than vertical. But, this layout called for vertical.
2. I used 7 pictures instead of 5 because I can never gauge what size photos to print. But, I think it still worked out OK, and bonus! more pics of my loverboys.
3. LOVE LOVE LOVE coordinating paper kits. Thank you, SU! (this is probably the first time you've heard me say that, right?)
4. Who says you can't use flowers on a boys' layout? Pashaw.
5. All pictures were taken this year during April & July. (L to R - our kitchen during Owen's birthday party, inside Comerica Park, playroom, steps of Marriott hotel in GR, outside Comerica Park, White Cloud Michigan at Kevin's softball game, Meijer Gardens in GR)
6. Alphas - white paper letters, blue chipboard, red ghost alphas (from Heidi Swapp).
7. I try to snap pictures of the boys being very brotherly without them knowing that I'm taking a picture. I love capturing these moments on the down low.

Inspiration Layout:

ScRaP SiStaZ Challenge 19 - NINE YEARS

Had the scrapping bug tonight. I followed ScRap SiStaZ Challenge 19 (even though the post says it's Challenge 18, it's really 19). When I printed the wallets for this layout, I also printed the wallets for Challenge 18. I hope to scrap those in the next couple of days.

NINE YEARS:

Some observations about the process and the products used:

1. It took me less than 5 minutes to select the patterned paper. It jumped out at me because it had all of the same colors that were in my photos, yet it was light enough for me to do my hand written journaling directly onto the paper.
2. The square buttons on the right side of the 4x6 photo were left over from a sewing project that I did when I was in ninth grade, I made a halter top. Told you...I save everything!
3. This is my recession era anniversary present to Kevin. We celebrate 9 years of marital bliss next Wednesday, 10/21.
4. Following Stacy Julian's "category drawers" made locating photos for this layout super easy. Except, I don't really have category drawers in the physical sense, I have category file folders in the virtual sense. These photos were all found in the "Us" file folder.

Inspiration Layout: