LOAD1012 - Day 26 - Yoda

The prompt for Lain Ehmann's Layout a Day (LOAD1012 - S.H.O. Time) challenge for Day 26 was inspired by ghosts. Use a transparency or see-through elements. My journaling is written on transparency paper and my title letters are Ghost Alphas from Heidi Swapp. One of the ribbons in the buttons is see-through.

Journaling Reads:

A cute Yoda, you were. Great Halloween costume, it was. The force of cuteness is strong in you.

Some observations about the process and products:

1. I scraplifted a design from someone in LOAD.  Inspiration ABOUNDS in this group.
2. Background paper is actually more cream, and then I dragged....drug?....drugged? a brown ink pad across it to give it some more depth. 
3. Second Halloween page for Ashton's Halloween book. And, as of this very moment, Ashton's Halloween book is "caught up" !! That will change in less than a week. But, for now, I'm good. :)
4. I have oodles of Halloween themed papers, letters, stamps, and embellishments...and in the last two Halloween pages that I've done, I haven't used ONE of those Halloween themed products.  Hmmm.

LOAD1012 - Day 25 - Doggie

The prompt for Lain Ehmann's Layout a Day (LOAD1012 - S.H.O. Time) challenge for Day 25 was to create a pocket on your page. I did stick my little flag behind the Doggie title, but I wouldn't really call it a pocket. It's the first prompt during LOAD1012 that I haven't really followed.

Journaling Reads:

You were the cutest little doggie ever! You had a plastic pumpkin filled with organic suckers, and from time to time, you were double-fisted! Every time the doorbell rang, you squealed with delight. -Halloween 2011

 

Some observations about the process and products:

1. The background paper looks pink in this picture, but it's really more grey in real life.
2. I used the K&Company Smash label maker for the small parts of the title.  Well, the E no longer works on the label maker.  So, instead of it saying IN THE WINDOW, it says IN THF WINDOW.  Close enough, right?
3. Not a lick of patterned paper on this page, and that's OK.
4. DOGGIE stamped with an alpha stamp set from Stampin' Up! I need more BIG alpha stamps.  They're fun.
5. Just like each kid has a birthday album, I want each kid to have a Halloween album.  I actually bought the orange albums years ago.  And this is the first page that I've created to go in it.

LOAD1012 - Day 24 - Bloom and Grow Forever

The prompt for Lain Ehmann's Layout a Day (LOAD1012 - S.H.O. Time) challenge for Day 24 was "Where were you when...." All of the examples given were of major events: 9/11 or Y2K. But, I took a more personal spin. Where was I when my dad passed away. Not a FUN page, but a very raw and honest story. It's part of what makes me, me.

Journaling Reads:

It was January 17, 2011. Because it was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I had the day off work as a company holiday. I had thought about going to visit my parents that morning, but my dad had advanced to such a poor state in his brain cancer disease and him being under hospice care made it emotionally difficult for me to be there. I had visited Sunday evening for dinner, and I justified staying home on Monday because there was laundry to do and personal paperwork to catch up on. Plus, maybe I would go visit in the afternoon. And then, shortly after 12:00, the phone rang. It was my mom. She told me that the hospice nurse had just left and that she had said Dad probably only had two hours to two days left to live. Obviously, I needed to come over as soon as I could. I knew that once I got there, I wouldn’t be leaving until after he passed away, so I packed an overnight bag. I took one of the fastest showers of my life. I sent an email to work letting them know I’d be out of the office, but I didn’t know for how long. I sent the nanny home and loaded baby Ashton into the car. I began calling the kids’ schools to pick each of them up early. I had to go to three different schools to retrieve Jordyn, Liam, and Owen before I could begin the longest twenty-five minute drive from Oxford to Waterford. On my way, I called Kevin, who was three hours away in Indiana on a business trip. He told me he would meet me at my parents’ house by dinner time. I got to my parents’ house around 3:00 pm. My brother-in-law and I can’t even remember who else were standing outside in the front yard…in January…in Michigan. And I instantly knew that I was too late. I was too late to say one last goodbye. One last I love you. I jumped out of the car and told him to get the baby and I ran inside, straight to my dad’s bedside. And he was gone. All of the stress of the last 5 months, and the most intense past three hours, brought me to my knees. I had missed it by about fifteen minutes. Why wasn’t I there? The laundry could have waited. The paperwork would have still been there. But, the hours we had left with my dad were limited. I should have spent my day off with him. My mom, who rarely left my dad’s side during his illness, herself had missed his final breath. She had gone into the kitchen. She told me it was OK that I wasn’t there at the very end because I had been there so many other times, and my presence or absence was not a measure of my love for him. My sister was at his side when he passed away. As he took his final breaths, in the last few minutes of his life, she sang to him, as she often did, Come to Jesus.

“And with your final heartbeat
Kiss the world goodbye
Then go in peace,
and laugh on glory’s side
...and Fly to Jesus
Fly to Jesus
Fly to Jesus and live!”

These beautiful flowers were on my dad’s bedside table. My mom had been growing them for the last couple of months, and they bloomed for the first time. I imagined my dad’s spirit inhabiting these blooms as I recalled how he used to sing Edelweiss to us as a lullaby when we were little. Bloom and Grow.

Bloom and Grow Forever

Some observations about the process and products:

1. Stampin' Up papers, some punched shapes, some twine, and a little bling. Done.
2. The journaling took me the longest to do.  Everything else came together pretty quickly.
3. My music of choice, of course, was Alan Jackson's Precious Memories.  Love those hymns.
4. Enough sad pages about my dad.  My next page about my dad will be happy and upbeat.
5. I want to meet the Long Island Medium so she can channel my dad.  I want her to tell me that my dad knows about all of these scrapbook pages that I'm making and he's thankful that I'm honoring him this way.  I want her to tell me that his soul is still here with me.  Well, that part, I already know.

LOAD1012 - Day 23 - Golf Lessons

The prompt for Lain Ehmann's Layout a Day (LOAD1012 - S.H.O. Time) challenge for Day 23 was to use an old product and/or to use a non-standard shape on your page. I was able to accomplish half of this challenge. At the top of my page there is a wavy border of chipboard that I covered in small polka dot paper. You guys, I have chipboard coming OUT.MY.EARS. And I NEVER use it. But, today, I did!

Journaling Reads:

Where: Mulberry Hills, Oxford, Michigan

What: After receiving your birthday golf clubs, we enrolled you in some golf lessons. You're more of a solitary soul, so we think this might be the sport for you. You're having fun so far!

When: July 23, 2012  

Some observations about the process and products:

1. All of the papers were from the same Stampin' Up! paper pack. I LOVE SU! papers. These papers are double sided, so whenever I have double sided papers I cut out a section of the paper underneath a big element. So, before I adhered the orange paper, I cut out a big section of the green paper. On the back side of the green paper was the small polka dot paper that I used to cover the chipboard. And before I adhered the photo collage, I cut out a section of the orange paper. And on the back side of the orange paper was the paper that mats my journaling card. Voila. 4 PPs out of only two pieces of paper. :) And BONUS, they all coordinate.
2. I love how the green polka dot paper reminds me of golf balls.
3. See, another rear view shot.
4. I just love it when you flub the very last word of your hand written journaling.  Maybe I should invest in some white out.  But, I guess that would only work if the journaling spot was on white paper. Not. Gonna. Worry. Bout. It.
5. Journaling tag is from the Project Life Clementine kit.
6. I like how the chipboard border reminds me of a hilly stretch of golf course.
7. I watched episodes of Modern Family and New Normal on Hulu Plus while scrapping this page.

LOAD1012 - Day 22 - Commitment

The prompt for Lain Ehmann's Layout a Day (LOAD1012 - S.H.O. Time) challenge for Day 22 was to use a picture of someone from the rear view. I take rear view shots quite a bit, actually, so this one was a matter of picking WHICH rear view shot I wanted to use.

Journaling Reads:

Liam, you never complain about going to football practice, even though starting on 7/23, a full month before games begin, you practice five days a week for three hours each day!! Even during a mega heat wave, you look forward to going to practice. All of that practice and dedication has prepared you for days like today….the highlight of each week…game day!Football has taught you commitment, team work, and responsibility. It has taught you to appreciate hard work and to enjoy the benefits when it pays off. You understand that it takes everyone on the team to do their absolute best in order to bring home a victory. And that’s what you do each game, you give 100%.

Quote in the bottom right reads: Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.  ~ VINCE LOMBARDI ~

Some observations about the process and products:

1. I accidentally printed this picture in B&W, and almost used the B&W pic on the page.  But, the color picture had such a different feeling.  So, I knew I had to use it.
2. I need to add the location to this page.  When Liam and I were looking at it, I wasn't really sure.  I had to look at the date of the photo and compare it to the football schedule to be sure.  It was at Lake Orion High School.
3. I printed the journaling and quote on patterned paper.  I first printed it on a white piece of paper, then I taped my patterned paper over the white piece of paper and sent it through the printer again.  I had to doctor some smudges on the Vince Lombardi quote because I didn't have another piece of that same paper to print it over.  Oh, well.  It gives the layout a messy locker room feel, right? 
4. I LOVE my date stamp from the K&Company Smash line.  Love it.
5. I don't love this title treatment, but I'll live with it. 

LOAD1012 - Day 21 - OJW Golf Outing

The prompt for Lain Ehmann's Layout a Day (LOAD1012 - S.H.O. Time) challenge for  Day 21 was to scrap about an impossible mission. I wouldn't classify the planning of this golf outing as IMPOSSIBLE, but it IS a big undertaking.

Journaling Reads:

It took a committee of six people, meeting every other week for about 3 ½ months to pull of this year’s OJW Golf Outing at Oxford Hills. This was my second year leading the committee and we exceeded our fundraising efforts, yet again. We raised about $12,000 for the Oxford Junior Wildcats Football and Cheer program. Not only is this our biggest fundraiser of the year, it’s the most fun golf outing, ever. From the Hotties with the Shotties to the Beer Studs to the great mix of people we have golfing, it’s always a good time. I spend so much time organizing the event, that once the shotgun start begins, I relax and enjoy!
1. Me & Michelle with our Jell-o Shots.
2. Me with a sponsor sign that my mom bought. Grandma Bonnie loves her Hillary “Cats”.
3. A cooler full of Jello-Shot Goodness.
4. Time for another team Jell-o Shot.
5. Kevin and me.
6. Tim, the golf pro at Oxford Hills, and I wore matching outfits.
7. We might not have been the winning team, but we were the best looking and had the most fun! Ha! (l to r – Kriss Curtis, Kevin Hillary, Heather Hillary, Michelle Raisch

Some observations about the process and products:

1. Photo Heavy
2. Journaling Heavy
3. This is just a heavy page.  But, it's a captured memory, right?  Even if the blue title font doesn't exactly match the blue ribbon which doesn't exactly match my turquoise outfit which doesn't exactly match my big brad. 
4. Speaking of big brads (wow, this is starting to sound X-rated), the big brads were a late addition.  I added them to liven the page up a bit.  Feeble attempt.
5. Another late add was the tab in the top left that says Oxford Hills. Didn't that addition just blow your mind?  I know. Mine, too.
6. So, I created the pages for Days 20 - 24 on 10/24.  I fell off the wagon a bit, but I hopped back on by creating FIVE pages in one day.  Get some!

LOAD1012 - Day 20 - My Funny Valentine

The prompt for Lain Ehmann's Layout a Day (LOAD1012 - S.H.O. Time) challenge for Day 20 was to use Washi tape in an unusual way. I'm not sure that I used the washi unusually, but, ALL of the strips in this layout are made out of washi. What's funny is that the day before this prompt came out I had bought a roll of washi tapes (4 patterns) from the Martha Stewart craft line. Psychic?!?

Journalig Reads:

Jordyn, you wanted to spend Valentine’s Day with someone that you really love. So, you asked Alicia to go to dinner with you. You and Alicia have been the best of friends since you were four and she was three when we lived on the same street. And even though we moved a couple of miles away, you remained as close as sisters. So, you spent the evening together. You went to dinner at our local Mexican restaurant, Casa Real. A cute boy was at the restaurant with his family, and you girls thought it would be fun to send him dessert, fried ice cream, from a secret admirer. Alicia has such a playful and funny personality. She really brings out the silly in you. Immediately after you sent over the mystery dessert, you guys dashed from the restaurant in fits of laughter over the fear that you might be caught! After dinner, you went to see the movie, The Vow. Dinner and a movie, love and laughter, sounds like a perfect Valentine’s Date to me.

Some observations about the process and products:

1. I used Stickles on these hearts.  I haven't used Stickles in forever.  It's fun to use, but I wish it dried faster.
2. The hearts were from my pre-punched hearts drawer.  Love those punched shapes drawer!
3. I love the playfulness of the relationship between Jordyn and Alicia. 
4. I listened to Sutton Foster's CD, "Wish". My good friend knew Sutton as a teenager.  Which goes to show you that there really are six degrees of separation in this world.
5. I really need to increase my washi stash.  Washi is fun.