one little girl :)

one little girl

well im finally settling back at home after being away for 3 days.......there's no place like home when you have been away from it a few days.........soooo i stared working on this blog entry when my mom called...so she and i got to talking.....and talking...and talking......she is an AWESOME MOM....

well last week or so, when i told her that i had won a 3 day pass to scrapfest....who did i call - my mom!!!!! i was sooo excited...and she was excited for me..... so naturally and without saying.....i asked her to come along with me...and even though she had a ton of things to do, she said that she would.....so i started looking online at the scrapfest goodness...and i noticed that the event was open to anyone 10 years of age and up....so i was like - WOW!!!! - abby can come too!!!!

abby is sooooooo far more creative than i am....and for 10 y.o., she is a true scrapbooker...... she always wants to tag along with my mom and i when we go to different crops and such.....sooooo i thought this would be great to get her to go with us...... so i texted my mom and i told her the news.... she gives me a call and says...how about i buy abby's ticket, and the 2 of you go together..... i didnt know what to say......i was sooooooo thankful for the offer....but i was gonna miss her not being there...cause she and i have a blast togehter when we go....she is the reason i am the scrapbook addict i am......she had joined a stampin up group...and after being in it a year or so, she invited me to a workshop....ive been hooked ever since...and oh, the amazing people i have met too.....which led to me to where i am now....... loving life and scrapbooking the memories that bring so much joy to it......

anyways......were was i......oh, my mom and i talking.....so i was telling her that i made a beautiful layout using the picture of her at the age of 10 for one page and for the other page, i chose the picture of her and her siblings...... even before hitting the highway to mandeville to scrapfest, i knew that these pictures were a definite.....with out a doubt....

anyways....... so i was saying that i was happy and sad at the same time cause i really wanted her to go too..... but abby and i made out just fine....its funny, cause my mom is just 3 doors down from me...and when i go away a distance , just me alone, or me and one or both kids, i feel like im a kid again...acting as a grow up...an i want the guidance of my mom with me.....so when abby and i traveled this weekend...i was thinking the whole time like a teen who just got her drivers license...and it was the first time driving alone on the open road....that nervous, scared feeling you get.......ha ha ha.....

and so i was putting this blog entry together when my mom and i got to talking.....she was telling me that today marked the anniversary of her oldest sisters passing, some years back (she is the one in the picture holding the little boy)..... it made my heart sink..... i hadnt even connected the two...i mean , i was sooooo moved to make this layout...using this particular picture!!!!....

and i had to have it exactly perfect..and it took me nearly all my time there at the event to do it to my liking..... and in a way it was like we were both thinking of the memories she had as a child, those she shared with her brothers and sisters....... it all happened by chance.... isnt that irony at its best???

... this is my favorite layout ever....it has a very special place in my heart.....

......both pictures ahve always been favorites of mine..... my mom said that the one of all the kids was the first and only photo that they ever had with all the kids...and the 5th grade picture of my mom made me think of abby - being in 5th grade this year......wow!!!! how time (and style) has changed...has changed :)...

i had my mom copy the picture onto a piece of canvas paper.....it added the perfect texture.....i also used canvas as a backing to my picture and added a touch of hand stitching..... i love love love buttons, so that was a given, as was the ribbon, pins, tulle, flowers, and hundreds of pop dots :).....i added a few feathers and other accent pieces and it all blended so nicely with the colors too.....

i couldnt come up with a journalling entry right away....so when i was at the event i snapped a pic and emailed it to my mom and was like....mom tell me what to write...what comes to mind when you look at this picture???? ha ha ha..... she she and i tossed around a few ideas....and after getting ready for bed that night...i was lying there and it came to mind.....1,2,3,4,5....i could list 5 things.....and it all fell into place....

i must say that i was very happy with the way it came out...and the whole time that abby and i were cropping at scrapfest...i was telling her..."well ab, its kinda like ma ma is here with us ... and she doent even know it...." ha ha ha...

well, thanks to my mom for giving me copies of these pics and lucky for me....( and paula too) , our layouts both won , and we will be heading back to scrapfest in february......... yay!!!! but guess who will be tagging along????? good old mom :)

scrapfest 2009

hiiiiiii....we just got back from a fun filled scrapbook madness weekend.....

we had soooooo much fun!!!! abby and i went to the 3 day event..... 9am - midnight....

i have to give abby credit....she hung with me the whole time....and we enjoyed the mom and me moments:).....she is amazing...and gives me inspiration too......i told her that i would have to post her layout entry on my blog...but then i thought a little more...and john and i decided that we would set up a blog for her to display all of her works of art....she is one talented little girl :)so got lots of compliments at the event...im sooooo proud of her.....

forever young at heart

omg!!!! i have found my new love - CANVAS :)....
wow...where have you been all my life....ha ha ha....
i took a class with connie at TM on saturday - creating a 2 page layout on canvas.
this has to be my most favorite class!!!! connie is an EXCELLENT teacher!!!! if you havent taken class with her before, you are totally missing out!!!! in addition to being a great teacher, she is a great designer with phenomenal photographer!!!! i love her pics!!!! THANKS AGAIN CONNIE FOR AN AWESOME CLASS AND LAYOUT IDEA!!!!

when i signed up for the class, i new that i was going to do a layout with old photos - but i was having trouble choosing which ones to use......i went with some pics of my dad in his younger days, who just celebrated his 59th birthday yesterday....

to make the layout "your own", connie laid out several embellishments to choose from to match each participants pics.....i love the jenni bowlin buttons and the webster pages.....i used the left over scraps of book print to cover the bird and the heart....and i even used a discarded ribbon of canvas on the heart as well....i added all my style touches...and i absolutely love the way it came out...this is probably my fav layout....

me and my bff

hello again.....well i finally did a layout that is totally out of my style..in my opinion....but i love the way it came out..... i guess that since i am so use to always "over doing it" - this layout was very fun...and it didnt take me a thousand hours to complete.....i love the colors...very bright.....i used some paper from sassafrass lass , basic grey, and dotted swiss ....i also used crepe paper ribbon for the embellishment flower i made....i added flower stick pins, did some hand stitching....and lots of pop dots....i think i need to invest in pop dots!!!! ha ha ha....

dirty dancing:)

my fav movie????? what a tough choice......there are SOOOOOOOO many good movies out there....and to narrow it down to 1 - hmmmmm....has to be...dirty dancing.....

i love watching dirty dancing.....it think i know all the words by heart.....i had a dirty dancing canvas bag that i had picked up on clearance at target a couple years back......soooo i got alot of use out of it....and i decided to display the bag - scrap book style...while it was still in good condition.....so that was my inspiration......i did some beading on the clothing and i made some hearts too out of wired beads,hand strung.....i added cardboard pieces in a few places.......in addition to tan colored cardboard, i also used a hot pink cardboard from inside of a perfume box to make the 2 flowers.....i pleated some paper to make ruffles....and added tulle and pins and gawd...ha ha ha....i decided to write out a verse to the song in words that are made up of individually cut letters from an old storybook......ribbon,buttons,and lots of hot glue later...and my fav movie layout was complete....

childhood memories

finally.......i have finally finished the shawdow box i have been working on for like 4 months.....ha ha ha....4 MONTHS!!!!! to finally get it perfect - the way i want it.......now , keep in mind....i didnt work on it everyday for hours for the last 4 months.......but it felt pretty dang close to that....ha ha ha.....nah....actually......when i was pregnant for abigail, my mom gave me the most perfect gift......at my surprise baby shower, my mom handed me this beautiful package..... i still have the wrappings......ha ha ha....my mom made this big bow from paper that looked like real ribbon.....a remember openning it up to find my very own baby clothes, socks and shoes, and my dolly.....

she told me that when i was born, my dad was soooooooooo excited, that he went down to the hospital gift shop and bought me this dress (and shoes and socks to match - that will be featured in an upcoming shadow box :) ......i was sooooooooooooooo overcome with emotion......i realized right then and there that i was gonna become a mom soon.......WOW!!!!.... i did make a very (amatuer ) shadowbox....but here it is, 10 years later...and i have decided to re-vamp it....and voilia....there you have it.....soooooo thats the story behind some of the items in the layout.......

it took me FOREVER to get it the way i wanted it.....i had been anticipating working on the project more than any other...i purchased the shadow box frame in april...and i started to work on it immediately......and then i came to a road block.....i couldnt get the items positioned and i would step away from it and come back to it....and finally....just when i thought that i had lost my creativity......it happened.....almost like magic...ha ha ha....it had been about a month since stepping away from it...that i came back to it this past week....and the pieces all fell into place.....i was so into finishing it that i lost a lot of sleep this week...ha ha ha....but it was well worth it....

so here, 4 months later......i can breathe easy....and get ready for round 2......then 3...then 4......

i love hydrangeas part I