Take Me the Way I Am

Got a LO done this morning, YAY!!! It seems like it has been forever since I've done a LO. Some pages can take me a couple days to hassle over because I do a little, come back, do a little more, come back, etc. And with a process like that I don't get too many LOs done. May need to revamp that style, not working so well.

So maybe hoping this page will get some scrapbooking juices flowing again.

I used some inspiration from my Creating Keepsakes magazine to make a LO using song lyrics. Loved that idea and it wasn't hard for me at all to pick a song. Have always loved "The Way I Am" by Ingrid Michaelson. It always reminds me of my husband and myself, we love each other and will do anything for each other no matter what.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Supplies:

cardstock - Papertrey Ink

patterned paper - BasicGrey, October Afternoon (grid)

stamps - Stampin' Up!

rubons - American Crafts

chipboard hearts - Colorbox

border punches - EK Success, Martha Stewart

Cricut cartridges - Paper Lace, Straight From the Nest

PreKindergarten

Hi. Decided to share a LO with you today. I haven't been doing too much scrapping lately but I am hoping this page will jump start my desire to make more pages. I have so many pictures that need to be scrapped but if I could just tackle one LO a week, I should be caught up in no time. Can you say New Year's Resolution? That might be one I can actually keep up on. :o)

This LO is of my daughter from the 2009-2010 school year. We sent her to Pre Kindergarten instead of Kindergarten strictly because she was so young (just turned 5 before the school year started) and I wanted to capture this time in her life in a scrapbook page.

Gotta love that October Afternoon paper and those wonderful American Craft thickers. Be still my heart.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Supplies:

cardstock, border punch, star punch - Stampin' Up!

patterned paper, stickers - October Afternoon

letter stickers, pen - American Crafts

So Cute

Hi everyone! I just had to pop in and share this LO that was totally inspired by Kelly Purkey and her first sketch in the Sketchbook 2 download. I don't ever download classes but when I saw that Kelly was offering the Sketchbook 2 class on her blog again, I just couldn't pass it up. Boy, was that the best decision I have made in a long time. I just know now that I will be patiently waiting for her next class to be offered because I am hooked now.

I have to say, this is a pretty simply LO, but I just love it to pieces. And it works perfectly for my vacation album. None of my pages in there are too time consuming, otherwise I would lose the motivation to complete it. I can't wait to use more of her sketches to help me finish this project.

Supplies:

cardstock, button, ric rac die - Papertrey Ink

patterned paper, cloud die cut, journaling card - October Afternoon (Road Map)

pen - American Crafts

letter stamps - Stampin' Up!

die cut machine - Cricut by Provocraft (Graphically Speaking cartridge - "cute" letters); Epic Six by Quickutz

ink - Tsukineko

border punch - EK Success

True Love

Just a simple LO for ya today. I normally don't make 8.5 x 11 scrapbook pages but I had a idea to start a new album just for myself that has everything in it that is important to me and means the world to me. And someday whenever I should leave this world I will know that I put down all of my thoughts and feelings, happy and sad, that represent me. So my family will remember the real me whether it is 50 years down the road or 10. I only have a few pages done but am happy with the start of this album.

Supplies:

cardstock - Papertrey Ink (kraft)

patterned paper - October Afternoon, Jillibean Soup (flowers)

journaling spot - October Afternoon

border punch - EK Success

buttons - Papertrey Ink

stickers - BasicGrey (flourishes)

letters - Jillibean Soup

pen - American Crafts

You are My Sunshine

Needed a little sunshine for my day so I went back in my photo archives and came across this little sweetie smiling at me. This is my nephew, Noah, and he is truly this fun and happy and he brings sunshine to any day.

Since I haven't photographed my LOs and cards that I have piled up I decided to look back and find some old LO or card to post. So happy I did because I forgot all about this LO I did for my brother and SIL. I think I posted this in my family blog but that was before I created my crafty one. So this will be new for most and I hope you all get a smile out of it like it did for me.

I didn't put any journaling on this LO so his parents could fill it in as they wish. So, hence the journaling card that is sitting there blank. :o)

Have a wonderful Thursday!!!

Water Lovin

Hi all. Got a layout for ya today. I really need to get more on the ball with my scrapbooking. I have been concentrating on my cards so much lately that my photos have been neglected. So to get my creative juices flowing again for scrapping, all I needed was some awesome patterned paper and a sketch. I typically don't use sketches, but I have found lately that it really helps me to get my pages done quicker and so I can do more in less time. So, I think sketches right now are my new friends. And what's great about sketches is that you can take any part of it to inspire you or all of it. Love the freedom.

Here are some photos from a trip we took last year to Minneapolis for Regional Swim. We always have to have a hotel with a pool. All our free time is spent in the pool and the kids are as happy as can be. Happy kids = happy parents!!

Tried my hand at making my own flowers. Eh, they are OK. Not quite a pro yet like many a handmade flowers I have seen. I'll keep working on them though and find a style that suits me.

Supplies:

cardstock - Bazzill, Papertrey Ink (yellow)

patterned paper - October Afternoon

stamps - Papertrey Ink

ink - Tsukineko

pen - American Crafts

letter stickers - American Crafts (large blue), October Afternoon (small black)

stickers - October Afternoon

gems - Doodlebug Design

border punches - EK Success

Two Wheelin

Got a layout for ya today. This one is of Riley trying to ride without training wheels. When she was four she thought that she was ready to ride without training wheels, but come to find out, she wasn't. So we put the two wheelin aside for a year and come this spring Riley was bound and determined to ride with only two wheels. And there must have been some sort of feeling in her that knew she was ready because once she got on her bike she took off on her own and she was riding like a pro. AAhhh, sweet success.

Photos are from last year on this layout. But, I updated the journaling to this year to explain the whole story.

Love those craft butterflies that I cut out of Jillibean Soup Paper. And also have to love those flair badges from American Crafts.

Have a wonderful day!!

Supplies:

kraft - Stampin Up!

patterned paper - Jillibean Soup

badge and rubon - American Crafts

letter stickers - Pink Paislee

pen - American Crafts

Ready for the Ball

I have a new love, the Dear Lizzy line by American Crafts. I absolutely love all the wonderful designs on the patterned paper and the great embellishments to go with it. If you have a little girl, this line is a must. And for myself, only having one girl amongst three boys, this line really gets me into girly mode and I am already envisioning all the wonderful Riley pages I am going to complete with this line.

See that beautiful ribbon along the bottom of my page. I would so buy a 100 ft spool of this if I could. The best invention of decorative ribbon.

Also love the adhesive fabric sheets. I used a section of one to die cut and adhere to the inside of my butterfly. So fun to play with any many possibilities.

Enough of my enabling, and if you haven't gotten yourself some of this great line, what are you waiting for? :o)

Supplies:

cardstock - Bazzill Basics Paper

twine - Papertrey Ink

die - Butterfly by Sizzix exclusively for Stampin Up!

all other supplies - American Crafts

Let's Play Ball

Hi everyone. Back with another LO for you. I made this one a couple of months ago of Zach playing baseball. The picture was from last summer but pictures are always good for any time of the year scrapping. That is one of the things I love about crafting, it goes at your own pace and you can scrap anything your little heart desires, whether it is a photo from 40 years ago or a current one.

I have to admit, it is kind of rare for me to use stamps on my pages. I don't know why that is, but you think I would use stamps more because I have so many of them with my cardmaking. But, I had this idea with the star strip and knew I had the perfect stamp set to create it. I hope I use more stamps in the future, but if I don't, I'm OK with that because when I create a page I just go with what I feel. I never want to make myself use something because I think I should.

Supplies:

cardstock - Stampin Up!, Papertrey Ink

patterned paper - Cosmo Cricket

journaling spot - October Afternoon

stamps - Papertrey Ink

ink - Tsukineko, Memories

letter stickers - American Crafts

punches - Stampin Up! (label), Martha Stewart (scalloped circle), Creative Memories (small star), EK Success (large star)

My Lil' Fish

I figured it has been a while since I posted a scrapbook page so here you are. I made this one at the beginning of January. I go in spurts sometimes with my scrapbooking. If I feel the desire to make a page or two I go for it and get as much done as I can. But I don't push it if I don't feel like making a page because I will sit there literally for hours just trying to make it all work. I can make cards under pressure, but a lot harder for me to "make" myself do a scrapbook page. I used to only make scrapbook pages when I first started crafting and now look at me. I make one or less in a week now. Crazy. I still love to scrapbook but for now the small size of a card is appealing to me.

I love these little fish and I can't get enough of my Everyday Paper Dolls Cricut cartridge. It has everything in there. If you don't have the cart, you would be shocked at all you can create with it. One of my favs and my kids' because they like to make their own little people to play with.

Supplies:

cardstock - Stampin Up!, Papertrey Ink, Bazzill Basics Paper

patterned paper, date journal tag - October Afternoon

letter stickers - American Crafts

journaling sheet, rubon letters - Making Memories

gems - Hero Arts

border punches - EK Success

fish - Cricut by Provo Craft (Everyday Paper Dolls Cartridge)

A Few LOs for You!!

Oh how I wish I could have a way to take better shots of my layouts for you. My camera just doesn't capture the true feeling of the LO and I don't have a scanner to use to scan them. Hopefully someday I can master taking pictures of a LO. Until then you will have to make due with these not so good pics. :)

This first LO is of Jordan's 6th grade year of basketball. I always have a hard time trying to pick a couple of photos so I try my best to fit 3 or 4 on a page. I have to do a little cropping here and there but I am happy because I am able to put more pics on a page.

This next LO is of Jordan's State swim meet. I have had a lot of LOs to do to try and catch up some so I have kept these pages pretty simple. After all, I still have three more kids to catch up on. And I'm not doing so good. But, I am happy with simple pages because it still gets my story across and that is the main thing.

This last page is of Jordan's Regional swim meet in Minnesota where 9 states competed in this meet. So exciting for Jordan and the rest of us. Again, I kept this page fast and simple but I was happy at all the photos I was able to include.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great week!!!

Vacation LOs - Part 2

Here are some more vacation LOs. I am working on other stuff right now that I don't want to post here just yet so until I can post them, you will have the total pleasure of seeing my vacation LOs. Luckily I have quite a few of them done so I have something to post on here for the next couple of weeks or so. And as you know, I love the Color Challenges and I will keep posting them as well. My posts won't be as many, but I will do enough to hopefully keep you interested. :) Thanks for checking in, I love it when people stop by.

Supplies:

cardstock - Stampin Up! (kraft)

all other supplies - Little Yellow Bicycle

Vacation Layouts

I have been working hard on our vacation album and I thought I would share a couple of pages with you today. I am hoping to post all of our vacation layouts for you to look at. I have 15 pages of my 40 page album done so far. I had to stop for a little while to make a couple of mini albums for family and some cards but I am hoping to get back at my album soon and get it done by mid September or so. It is always good to have a time frame because it keeps me moving.

Supplies:

kraft cardstock - Stampin Up!

all other supplies - Little Yellow Bicycle

Last Post Before Our Vacation

Hi all. I just wanted to get one last post on my crafting blog before we go on vacation. We are going to Maine this year and with the whole Batta Family. It should be so much fun and we are anticipating some beautiful scenery and wonderful hiking adventures. Not to mention the ocean and lighthouses. I am so excited to see the lighthouses, don't know why, but I am. I just think of it as a beautiful work of solitary architecture along the shoreline. A beacon of hope for many ships who once passed. A lot of history in some of those lighthouses. I plan on taking many pictures and posting them on my family blog so watch for that in my sidebar under Family Blog.



This first LO I did was for a Hero Arts challenge. We had to create something with the theme vacation in mind. And speaking of vacation, these pictures are from 7 years ago when we all went to Montana. I don't know why I haven't scrapped them yet, I am thinking it is because I did a 12x12 album which takes so much long than an 8x8 album (which I have done for all our vacations since). No better time than the present, right?

Here is my second LO for you. This was also created for the Hero Arts Challenge. And I am still using the same vacation pictures from Montana. These little paper flowers I made are so simple to do. I just tore out three large circles from cardstock and three smaller circles. I then crumpled them up and curled the edges a little and then put a solid black circle in the center with a light blue brad. If you would like to create these but with a little more flare and more colors, visit this post HERE on Dawn McVey's blog. She is the master and creator of these beautiful flowers.

I hope you all have a wonderful upcoming week. Be thinking of me when I fly out Saturday morning at 5am on a 44 seat plane. I am a little freaked out about riding on that stinkin, small plane. But it is only to Minneapolis. I can do this. Or maybe I can do this with a little tranquillizer. :)

Supplies River Rafting:

cardstock - Bazzill Basics Paper

patterned paper - October Afternoon

stamps - Hero Arts

gems - Hero Arts

letter stickers - American Crafts

journaling sheet - Making Memories

butterfly punch - Martha Stewart

ink - Memento (black), Colorbox (blue)

Supplies Going to the Sun Road:

cardstock - Bazzill Basics Paper

patterned paper - October Afternoon

stamps - Hero Arts

letter stickers - Adornit (black), American Crafts (white and blue)

ink - Memento

brads - BasicGrey