LOAD213 - Day 7 - Brighter Than The Sun

The prompt for Lain Ehmann's Layout a Day (LOAD213 - Scrap Happier) challenge for Day 7 was to use nature in your layout. I just love the sun shining through the branches of this big tree. You can't tell the best in this online photo, but my daughter is swinging on a tire swing.

Journaling Reads -

Jordyn, you have a beautiful, playful spirit that shines! When your 40 year old self reads this, may you be reminded to try and get some Vitamin "Dee"...be adventurous and free!

~~~~~~~~~
Side note, my Aunt Dee recently passed away, and at her memorial service she was remembered as an adventurous, free spirit. Jordyn and I have adopted this phrase "Get some Vitamin 'Dee' " to remind ourselves (me, especially) to lighten up and have more spontaneous fun.

LOAD213 - Day 6 - Fab Flappers

The prompt for Lain Ehmann's Layout a Day (LOAD213 - Scrap Happier) challenge for Day 6 was to scrap something that's been in your pile for a while. Poetic. This inspired me to update my Projects to do white board with current items. A while ago, I started Halloween albums for each of my kids, so that they have all their years of Halloween costumes in one album. So, I printed pictures for all four kids' 2012 Halloween pages. This is my daughter's:

Journaling Reads -

At first, you and Megan had thought about dressing up as the Morton’s salt girl and Rosie the Riveter, a la vintage print ads.

Then, you girls hatched a plan to go as characters from The Hunger Games, you as Effie Trinket, and Megan as Katniss Everdeen. That plan was thwarted when Megan found out she had play practice on Halloween and wouldn’t be home in time to do your elaborate hair and makeup.

So, you girls settled on dressing up as FLAPPERS from the roaring twenties. You both looked gorgeous and had a ton of fun trick-or-treating. Although, some people thought there were adults on their doorstep, instead of teenagers!

You were so proud of yourself for buying and carving your own pumpkin. You did it all by yourself! Good thing you did, too, because it was the only Jack-o-lantern on our porch this year.

Halloween, October 31, 2012

LOAD213 - Day 5 - Never Alone

The prompt for Lain Ehmann's Layout a Day (LOAD213 - Scrap Happier) challenge for Day 5 was to  scrap about your honey. Considering that three out of the first four layouts this LOAD featured my husband, I broadened the scope a bit. This is a Facebook post that I put out recently. Behind the photo collage are all of the replies I received. The title is a picture of a tattoo of a waitress that I had last week after a particularly emotional time missing my dad (who passed away two years ago). There is more to the story of that tattoo, but I will have to give myself some time and space from the experience before I scrap about it. At any rate, her tattoo was a reminder that, even though he's gone, my dad is always with me. My Facebook post was sent out to honor all of the people in my life who helped me through a pretty difficult four days.

 

Journaling Reads:

Sunday, February 3, 2013 - Beyond grateful that I have so many wonderful women in my life. It's not often that I'm an emotional basket case, but when I am, I can count on my daughter, Jordyn Hillary, to listen and exchange crazy texts; I can call Mair Bedford Greene and Michelle Soloway Raisch, who will change out of their jammies, drop what they're doing, throw on a baseball hat, and meet me for a drink because they KNEW I wouldn't ask them to do it unless I needed it; then there are my breakfast buddies: Domonique Call, Amy Keith Petoskey, and Traci Hummel Parsons who cried right along with me over eggs BENNY; and there are also long distance confidantes: Maria DiPonio Hillary & Aimee Puglise Alban; and local let's have a glass of wine tell me everything listener, Lori Fry Skibo. My life is enriched with all of you in it. And, while not a woman, my best friend, Kevin Hillary, who hugged me and held me through the tears...I'd be lost without you. And how can I forget my hottchicks, who put up with my roller coaster emails over the last few days?! Love you girls!! Kim Ouellette-Basinger, Errica Shanahan, Domonique Call, Amy Keith Petoskey, Traci Hummel Parsons, Tina Johnson Davis, Marlo Heidisch Esser, Karen Johnson. BLESSED. I'll get back to my standard issue Zumba emails next week. (24 Comments, 39 Likes)

Hidden Journaling Reads:

• Mair Bedford Greene oh hell, you just made me cry all over again!!! Love you more than words, Heather <3>
• Domonique Call Aww! Love you muchly!!!!
• Kelly Jones Bourn Hope you are better!!! I don't even know what the heck is going on and your post could make me cry.
• Jennifer Gekiere-Myers Your loved and blessed!
• Maria DiPonio Hillary Love, Love, Love You!!!
• Rebecca Elaine Krupa You can add me to the list anytime you need an ear! : )
• Barbara Shumate love you Heather.
• Jodie Miller Viviano good friends are a blessing for sure!!
• Aimee Puglise Alban Love you girlfriend!!
• Beba Tawfik I HOPE YOU OK HEATHER!!OXOX
• Heather Shellnut Hillary And how can I forget my hottchicks, who put up with my roller coaster emails over the last few days?! Love you girls!! Kim Ouellette-Basinger, Errica Shanahan, Domonique Call, Amy Keith Petoskey, Traci Hummel Parsons, Tina Johnson Davis, Marlo Heidisch Esser, Karen Johnson. BLESSED. I'll get back to my standard issue Zumba emails next week. :)
• Tracy Albert Thinking about you hope all is ok. <3>
• Katie Zelenko Scepka Hope all is ok...
• Kelly Petit Baran Sending you hugs Heather!! You have so many wonderful people in your life because you are wonderful!! You deserve the very best because you are the very best my dear!! I am sending you positive thoughts along with lots of hugs and love!!
• Heather Shellnut Hillary Thanks, Ladies!! I'm definitely good, just went through a couple of days intensely thinking about my dad and missing him. But, I KNOW he's always with me, and that's comforting.
• Michelle Soloway Raisch Awwwww!!!! You will NEVER be ALONE!!!!! Loves me some Heather!!!! <3>
• Lori Fry Skibo There is an old saying, what comes around, goes around. The reason you have so many wonderful friends, is because you, yourself are one....
• Lisa Litchfield Sorry you are feeling blue but so happy to see what a wonderful support network you have. Hugs, cuz!
• Pam Oliver Hey and me too!!
• Errica Shanahan Love you sister!
• Kristin Donaldson Pitser Heather, can completely relate to you and the how (even after many, many years for me) sometime out of the blue you can have a hard couple of days of missing your dad! You got a great list there...and you can always add one more if you need me ;)
• Heather Shellnut Hillary And how could I forget Pamalicious Pam Oliver, who has seen me at my craziest moments?!? Glad she doesn't charge me double for my nails when my manicure often doubles as a therapy session!!
• Annette Elcoate Oh honey, I can't even imagine what it must be like to lose a parent! Of course you were down and so glad you have a group of ppl to count on! You can count on me to comment on your beautiful FB photos, beautiful!!! Keep your chin up! Your daddy is proud:)
• Annette Elcoate And I'd like to be a part of that breakfast club:)) ha! Hang in there beautiful!

LOAD213 - Day 4 - Seasonal Family Bucket Lists

The prompt for Lain Ehmann's Layout a Day (LOAD213 - Scrap Happier) challenge for Day 4 was to scrap about a goal.  I've been wanting to scrap about our family's seasonal bucket lists for a while now, so I thought this topic fit the prompt well enough.

 

 Journaling reads:

At the beginning of every season, we gather around a fire and make a list of things we'd like to do that Spring, Summer, Winter, or Fall. We might not actually DO everything on the list, but dreaming and laughing together is a cherished memory.

Some observations about the process and products:

1. Another Picasa collage.
2.  I took a screen shot of our summer bucket list that we had created on my iPad, and printed it out.  I think it made a great addition to the page.
3. Journaling cards from Becky Higgins Project Life Clementine Core Kit.
4.  I love the license plate letter stickers.  I've had them for a while now and finally found the right layout to use them on.

LOAD213 - Day 3 - 2 Cars

The prompt for Lain Ehmann's Layout a Day (LOAD213 - Scrap Happier) challenge for Day 3 was to scrap about an object that is important, but often gets overlooked.  I took the picture of both mine and Kevin's cars in the garage late last year.  As I walked by both cars, I remembered thinking about what the presence of both cars in the garage signified for me. 

Journaling reads:

Dad travels so much for work that when he's home we take full advantage! Wrestling, sharing a bottle of wine, dinners out, putting Ash to bed, We <3 him="">

Some observations about the process and products:

1. I used Picasa to create the collage.  Again.
2. I printed the collage twice....once in black and white and then again in color because I didn't love the black and white.  But then the color photo didn't look great because the ink levels were low.  So, I cut out the color photo of the cars, popped those up on dots, and left the rest of the photos black and white.
3. Strips of red washi tape hold the journaling strip in place.
4. I put the red sticker on the photo of the cars to draw your attention to the main object of the page.

LOAD213 - Day 2 - Recipe for a Perfect Day

The prompt for Lain Ehmann's Layout a Day (LOAD213 - Scrap Happier) challenge for Day 2 was to describe your perfect day.  I took this from Kevin's perspective.

Journaling reads:

Sunshine
The Lake
Fishing Boat
Fishing Tackle
Plenty of Bait
Trolling
Catching Fish
Letting Them Go
Brothers Getting Along
Dad Relaxing
Labatt Blue Light
Sunscreen
Homemade Muscle Shirt
Favorite Fishing Hat
No Meetings
No Clocks
No Worries
Making Memories

Some observations about the process and products:

1. I used Picasa to type directly onto the photo.
2. I meant to select 8x10 as the size of my photo, but it printed across the entire 8.5x11 page, and I liked the effect.  A good oops.  Or, a "goops" for short!
3. I wanted the impression of fishing line across the bottom.  I considered using actual fishing line, but that means I would have had to go out into the cold shed to find some, and I was too lazy to do that.

LOAD213 - Day 1 - Scrap without words

The prompt for Lain Ehmann's Layout a Day (LOAD213 - Scrap Happier) challenge for Day 1  was to try and convey your message without using words.  No words for a title, no journaling.  This was not an easy prompt for me, because the story behind the photo is sooooooo important to my scrapbooking. But, I think I accomplished the goal, with this double-page layout. It's a collection of photos of me and my husband from 2012. I kind of cheated and added numbers in the corner of each photo, and behind each collage is a key that lists the date, location, city, and state of each photo. 

Some observations about the process and products:

1. Most of the heart punches were in my punched shapes (stars & hearts) drawer.  Gotta like that!
2. Photo collage created in Picasa
3. The left half of the page is primarily the first half of the year.  The right page is primarily the second half of the year.  I had braces on in the first half of the year, therefore I'm smiling with my mouth closed in the pictures on the left and smiling with my mouth open on the right side of the page.
4. I had 24 photos of Kevin and I together in 2012, but I'd like to get more than that taken in 2013.  It would be fun to do a page like this every year.